They Set Out to Fight Love
by tjcbunni22
Summary: The World of the Cullens is ripped apart after Isabella's treachery and as they struggle to keep their makeshift family together, new ties and bonds filter through them and old ones transform into something more. A war looms over their world, happiness turns into something elusive... and souls, healing.
1. Chapter 1

**SAFE AND SOUND**

**ANGELA WEBER**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**I would have never known to be this strong, if you had not made me weak.**

**x**

I wasn't running away.

"Do it quickly, dammit!" I scolded myself, failing to zip up my toiletry bag, fingers trembling and vision blurring even though my thick lens glasses were propped steadily on my nose.

The bag jumped out of my grasp, performing a single cartwheel in the air as my tooth brush, toothpaste and skin cleanser broke free-before clattering on the bathroom floor, the other escaped contents serenading its landing.

I jumped away from the sound, my heart pushing ferociously against my chest. I had to stay calm; I had to slow my breathing.

I wasn't running away.

So what if I had grown up here? Fallen in love here and had my heart broken here too? Did it matter that this was all I knew and the sunny places after the perpetual cloud cover I lived in could wield demons of a different kind? Could there be demons of a different kind?

"Don't think like that, Angela!" I groaned, dropping to my knees hard, pain flashing from the sudden impact. I squeezed my eyes shut all I saw was Isabella's red eyes. "Just contacts, Angela, not her eyes" I murmured to this weaker side off me that was content to curl in a ball right here in my too pink bathroom and never move again.

One too many times I had a broken heart, too few times I felt love and a migraine too painful ending in black outs of late... I was simply taking an extended possibly never ending vacation. Away from Forks, coincidentally. Away from anything cold. Or pale. And especially beautiful this had nothing to do with the Cullen's.

I wasn't running away.

"Shit" I stopped my folding of clothes and froze over the suitcase. The soft rapping on the front door continued, the sound fleeting up the stairs to my tenses ears.

It carried on without a break and I laughed at how silly I was being. When had Isabella ever knocked? Or called to say she was 'popping by'? She appeared like a spectre. A nightmare. My sanities tormentor with her hard smile and flat red eyes.

_Contacts, Angela!_ I hissed to myself, cantering down the stairs. _They are just bloody red contacts._

I moved slowly through the lounge, glaring briefly at the lumpy plastic covered furniture. I would send that to the twins for their bachelor pad. Although I shouldn't be promoting their single lifestyle in their late twenties. Single was for the lonely. Single was being lonely. And I found out too late how dangerous it could be too.

I didn't even have the excuse of being a divorcee. There had been no wedding; there had been no marriage and certainly no Fiancé. There was the high school sweetheart; there was the one night stand while I was drunk out of my mind and the heartbreaking four year relationship with a married man...

"NO!" I shrieked, the moment I swung the door open and found myself gazing into flat black eyes encased in lavender eyelids and captured perfectly like Michelangelo's marble angels. Only they were not angels no, maybe in disguise... but underneath, none of them were angels.

"Angela" she gripped the door before I had even raised my hand to slam it in her angel-faced underlying demon form.

"No..." I choked, backing away and shaking my head vehemently. She entered calmly-startling me with how very human she kept her grace (I was expecting teleportation-like movements. That I come to expect since Isabella...)  
She closed the door carefully behind her. She cast her dark eyes at my covered furniture, then at the many cardboard boxes littered on the floor and then finally, with a delicately raised eyebrow-she looked at me.

"Where would you go, Angela?" she asked softly-her voice was the same tinkling bell from high school "Texas?" she answered in the same breath. It didn't surprise me that she knew the answer even though I had not told a soul. I doubt I had really told myself, come to think of it.

"She will find you there" she stated-and this too didn't surprise me "She will kill you, Angela. Or worse" this too wasn't any sudden bit of information I had failed to come up to. I had mulled over this during my escape-no, vacation plans.

"Don't you want to know what is worse?" she asked, her dark eyes still wide "You think death is as bad as it gets" she smiled. She wasn't playing a guessing game with me-she knew through and through.

"Well, it isn't Angela" she said sadly.

"Being a red eyed demon" Alice Cullen finished grimly "That's as bad as it gets"

And finally, surprise and shock took me over and my jaw dropped.

Xx~xx~xX

"Tell me as much as you know and can remember, Angela"  
"And what?" I kept my expression cold "You will protect me? And only if I give you what you want?"  
"I will protect you because many years ago..." Alice Cullen smiled "You were a girl with horned rim glasses, atrocious fashion sense but a heart big enough to include my family when you had no need to"

"Family" I scoffed-tried to scoff anyway, the sound came out high pitched.

"You really don't have to tell me anything, Angela" she gave her small smile-but something in her eyes remained positive that her request would fall through eventually.

"And I wont tell you!" I yelled, rising from the kitchen table in fake bravado although my anger was so intermingled with my fear of her small white form sitting calmly in my kitchen.

"You know why I wont tell you?" I demanded, my lips pulled in a cynical sneer-who cared if it was slightly manic, my sanity was something unhinged because of these... these _Cullen's._

"Because we are working with her-after all, we made her pale and beautiful like ourselves. The Bella you knew somehow died when she married Edward?" she quoted my thoughts perfectly before I had a chance to voice them out. I stared at her, my mouth hanging open.

"But you see, Angela" Alice folded her hands delicately over the tabletop, an expression resembling weariness fighting to remain on her gorgeous fairy-like face. She closed her eyes and inhaled a careful breath before opening them with such heart-breaking regret and sadness swimming in their inky depths that when she finally uttered the words:

"She isn't a par of us and we are not a part of her", I was sold.

Hook, line and sinker. And didn't it make crystal sense then?

"Red eyes" I fell back into the chair, muscles releasing in painful relief.

"Our eyes..." Alice said seriously "Are not red, as you well know and drop the self delusions Angela, you know it has nothing to do with contacts"

"But..."  
"Make no mistake; she will either turn you into what we are or kill you" she answered my unworded question "And no, we are not demons. Not really"  
"Why does it matter to you if I die or... worse" I asked her softly, it felt like she was lifting up a ton of concrete off my chest "No bull about past friendships that had centred around Isabella"

"Honestly?" Alice asked. I nodded and she took in a breath "If she does manage to turn you, and you become what we are... my family will be doomed"  
"How could I possibly..."  
"I don't know how" she cut me "But it will end in violent blackness

Xx~xx~xX

The drive out of town was different to how I had envisioned it for three days since I had sold the Mercedes and purchased the Volkswagen. I had expected deafening silence, I had expected paranoia and more importantly (it was easier to admit this now that I was seated next to Alice in the Lamborghini, cruising to God knows were and assured that I would be arriving there whole), I had expected death.

I had packed everything, arranged for a tenant to take lodge in my house and sold all the unnecessary or given it away. The car was bought that would be economical for fuel and the housing paid for in Texas. All of this had been done, but I hadn't expected to survive the very journey. I had nightmares of her in those three days; she would appear in the middle of the lonely highway, her gown flowing like fire from hell about her and those red eyes staring at me. A cruel smile on her red lips and that Volkswagen I got would turn into my coffin, and Isabella would be my undertaker.

Alice doesn't say much and I suppose it's because I haven't asked her much as yet. Occasionally her eyes glass over and I know she isn't watching the road but her pace remains steady and straight. She hasn't changed, nothing about her has changed-her hair maybe shorter but that could just be the style she has worn it in. I suppose what I am seeing is physical stagnancy... she is the same sure, but after an hour of travelling, I notice other things.

Maybe her skin is much smoother, maybe its whiter and maybe her eyes have a different depth too them. She isn't the bubbly quirky girl from high school who made it a habit to 'dance' from class to class. She is a woman in there, and something more...

"We are going to have to change cars" she sighs. "Maybe something a little less flashy"

"You haven't really told me where we are heading?" I ask her and she smiles slightly. All her smiles are somewhat sad; they fail to reach her dark eyes (I am not sure I want to know why they are black and not the tawny colour I remember).

"You don't need to know" she smiled "Not yet. But I can tell you we are going to where my family is"  
"But she..."  
"I just told you she isn't a part of us, Angela" she said quickly, looking at me sternly for a minute-ignoring the road but overtaking a slow truck easily without so much as blinking "It's a case of safety in numbers"  
"Why are you certain she is coming for me for that particular purpose?" I asked her. Maybe she knew the same way I did; how many times can you stare into the devils eyes before being consumed by hells fires.

"I fell upon your future..." Alice said and it bothered me how apologetic she sounded. She looked away and I did the same. I watched as the world zoomed past us. She was watching my future; now, that was easy to believe considering everything.

"Ever since we found out she had visited you, I have been watching" Alice continued "When you came by our house and Edward..."  
"I remember the day" I said. "Well, she came again"

"She... came... again?" she asked slowly, watching me from the corner of her eye.

"Yes" I said softly. "This is the first visit from her that I remember completely; without migraines and memory loss"  
""She came again!" she growled, her tiny white fingers gripping the steering wheel angrily "And I didn't see? And here you are... alive. With a beating heart"

I frowned in confusion but remained silent. She was pissed, angry... maybe it at Isabella but it was still confusing.

"You remember because all of Joham's children were with him" Alice said in a disgusted tone "No Flora or the other one, the one who steals memories"  
"I don't know what you are talking about"  
"I know, but it doesn't matter" she said in a softer voice, smoothing her expression "What did she want Angela?"  
"She wanted to know how long you had gone away for and where to?"  
"Now why would she think you would know that?!"  
"I don't know" I mumbled. "But I don't think that she comes to Forks to source information only. She comes to drive me insane. To torment me"  
"What does she say to you?" Alice asked softly-in a hollow voice.

"This is the only time I remember clearly" I said frowning "And she didn't really talk about anything of importance, she just..."

Refused to leave my house when I begged her to, watching me eat with glaring anger filled eyes and what had broken my feeble hold on controlling my fear... was when she gave me a haircut. I touched the beanie sitting warm and snug on my head with a shaky hand.

"She terrifies me" I whispered-voice quaking and pitching "She is insane. She is evil... she stayed at my house for a week until those evil eyes had turned to coal. And in those days, I could not leave nor could I allow visitors. She killed my cat"

"How did she kill your cat?" Alice asked in a tiny voice, pulling into a service station. She parked the car in front of the convenience store and continued to stare out the window the way she had been while driving. Like there was something in the distance that frightened her but she was determined to plough through. She wouldn't look at me and wore something similar to guilt on her face.

"I don't know" I said. "It was dead and had a gash by its throat"  
"You say she stayed for a week?"  
"A whole week" I murmured. "She... she insisted on bathing me. She insisted on..."

I stopped and let the hot tears fall over my cheeks. The rest of what Isabella 'insisted on' had stripped me of integrity and comfort of my own body. It hadn't been mine, in the end. It had belonged to no one, this body...

"Don't cry Angela!" Alice begged, her hand hovering over my face. A cold finger touched my cheek and I flinched violently away.

"_Do not touch me_!" I hissed, pushing against the closed car door. "Don't you ever fucking touch me you... you...!"

"I apologise" she stated stonily. She gave me a minute to compose myself, watching the outside of the car-the people moving by, the different cars driving in and out. "Would you care for something to eat? I tend to forget about such things; Edward is... well, he is better at it than I am"

"You don't eat" I scoffed "Like her, I know it. I remember it from school"

"Do you want me to eat, Angela?" she asked, that sad smile ghosting over her lips. It almost made me remorseful for my outburst. Almost... but her eyes were still black coal sitting in white desolate planes No matter if I believed her or not. Red eyed or amber. She was an 'it' and I wasn't about to let that go.

That's what had led me to being Isabella's living Barbie Doll, after all. Such naivety born out of having a coddling Priest for a father who overcompensated for my mother's early departure from this 'earthly life'. None of that; and I had made damn sure of it with my brothers.

"I can eat to put you at ease" Alice smiled. I shook my head. "Oh, okay. Do you want to come in the store with me?"

I opened the car door awkwardly without answering her, it made a whoosh sound and propped upwards. It did the same thing when I pushed it downwards. She waited patiently for me to walk around the car to her and we went in together in the store.

Xx~xx~xX

"Oh" she breathed while her eyes did their rapid blinking before glassing over dance. She had been in the middle of asking me what crisps I would like. She had picked the very ones I liked in fact, smiling sheepishly before asking me if I liked them. Like she had forgotten she shouldn't know that and in an effort to make me more comfortable with her (I was still refusing to let that make me feel bad) she had asked.

"We will be driving a Toyota truck" she announced, dropping the crisps in the basket swinging on her small arm "I hope you don't mind; it really isn't as fast and smooth"  
"No, I don't mind" I said. She smiled again, and remained silent after that-paying for the basket full of junk food, opening the car door for me and driving about thirty minutes out of the little town we had passed through with the stereo on.

Xx~xx~xX

Like she promised, we got the Toyota truck.

Well, she got it. Stole it I suspect and she seemed very proud of how fast she brought it and I didn't bother asking her why the doors where still locked even though she managed to move it from point A to Z. She said in an eerie tone, tugging at my door once, a sick metal squelching erupting from the inside although she appeared to open it freely "I won't be asking Edward to get me this for Christmas like last time..." and then added glumly while wiring the car to a start "I really hope we celebrate Christmas"

It spooked me how absolutely fragile she seemed, pained and troubled. Demons were not like this. Demons had red glow in the dark eyes, they had perfectly charming and inviting smiles... they didn't talk about things with such wilting despair and worry about not being able to see the future clearly.

But it could have all been a trick.

God, had I gotten so used to suspicion and the safety of my paranoia that the thought of it being anything else was inconceivable? Or worse, I wanted it to desperately be a trick, for us to reach our destination and have Isabella waiting for us... because I could understand that. I was so used to fear...

God, let it be a trick. Please.

Xx~xx~xX

We arrived eventually after maybe a day of travelling. Or less. It would have been longer had she not driven endlessly from Forks to the backwater town we arrived in the dead of night. The pit stop she announced around the same time I had a call of nature couldn't even be counted in denting the time.

"Here you go" she murmured, producing a single key from the top pocket of her blouse. It was cold, wherever we where-but it was that kind of windy chill that let me know morning would definitely bring the sun.

She opened the door and swung it open for me, smiling back at me as she stepped into the apartment of the crappy building she had parked the Toyota in front off. I followed her drained, sitting and sleeping for hours on end in a car didn't constitute as any form of rest.

The light flashed on with a click from somewhere beside me but when I turned, expecting to see her standing small and beautiful by the light switches, she wasn't there. "I hope you like navy" she said from the other end of the lounge, drawing the curtains shut.

She turned around smiling. "You will be safe here, Angela"  
"Are you staying with me?" I asked her and flinched when it came out hopeful. When it came out desperate and needy.

"No" she said and I pursed my lips shut to stop from begging her not to go. Not to leave me in this too quiet building, in this town surrounded by farms and located in the middle of no where.

"But..." she said cheerfully and my eyes went wide as if to snatch in every bit of hopeful light "I am staying here. My family is staying here. And if you need anything... you can just call"  
"I thought when you said you where all together you meant I would be with you?"  
"Trust me..." she chuckled morosely "Being with us, at present... would be counter productive to your mental recovery from Isabella"

Of course she was right. I didn't want to be with them because I wanted company so badly... I just hoped their added bodied might slow her down. I couldn't say I recognised this person I was, but she was constantly at war the side of me that wanted to bitch slap Isabella across the face and tell her to go to hell. But that would have been like telling her to go home...

"There is a phone in the drawer of you bedside table" she said moving towards the door, preparing to leave me here alone "I don't need to tell you to only call the numbers on it. That would be mine as for now, the others are... well, if you think you are up to knowing everything... that you can handle it. Maybe you can have lunch at our place someday?"

"You'll let me know soon" she said. It was a statement and not a question. "Try and sleep well, Angela. I promise you, you are safe"

"Why didn't Edward..." I asked in a small voice "I mean, he was... I was a lot more close I guess... I just expected if there would have been anyone to come in and well, intervene with the Isabella. It would have been him"

"It was him" she said, her face a hard mask-as if she thought loosening it would cause it to fall apart and reveal something shameful "In a way. You see Angela, as much as we try and be good... being good is really _trying _to us_._ Because sometimes you get so used to being good that when it calls on you to be bad, you are the _worst_"

"I don't understand?"  
"I didn't have to be looking out for your future" she said revealing that shamed look"I had a lot on my plate. But he begged me; he didn't want Isabella to hurt you because of him"  
"It wasn't his fault..." I began and remembered my mantra to not relate to them.

"Masochistic even when he is lying in pieces" she sighed cryptically. "Besides, I sort of broke my promise to him. I was the worst. Selfishly the worst. I should have seen Isabella come to you again"

"Why didn't you?"  
"Because when my Jasper was away from me, when Edward came back torn up and other things you wouldn't understand..." she said imploring me with her eyes to understand her, to understand _something_ gruesome and true "I couldn't deal with anything else. I shut it all out and looked only to those around my heart. And then this one day, when I was too sad to worry about concentrating on anything... I saw you dead. And I panicked, because _of course_ I remembered what I had promised Edward... so I looked again, and this time, you were staring at me with red demented eyes. And when I looked again, you were dead. And it continued switching between dead and undead till I made sense that it was uncertain..."  
"Whether I would live or die" I said quietly and she nodded.

"And I told him what I saw, and he begged me to get you. To keep you safe-but of course that's what I wanted too" she finished "And here we are"

"I still don't know why you say he is broken and torn when..." I began and she shushed me gently.

"Sleep, Angela" she murmured. "When you are ready to make that lunch date, when you think you are strong enough to be a part of our world-although, I advice you to keep well away and enjoy the quaintness of our present environment-then you will understand. And then there will be no unlearning what you understand"

She left and I quickly went to the windows in front of the lounge-the ones with the navy curtains-expecting to see her pulling out in the Toyota. It was parked there, beside a sedan, just like we left it. She stood still, just behind it and waved tersely and I thought I saw a smile on her lips. That same sad smile. And then she casually walked towards the trees growing freely at the other side of the road-these were strong and denser trees than the Forks trees-and with one final glance, she was out of my sights.

Even with all her imploring for me to sleep, that I was safe... I dreamt of Isabella Swan (for if she wasn't of the Cullen's, and they weren't for her... then she was really still just a plain old 'Swan'). She was watching me while I trembled in a bath filled with ice cold water; her fingers dipping under the water till they cupped my calf in a slimy cold hold.

She watched with red eyes. Then she smiled with red lips. And when she smiled further, enjoying my fear and taking pleasure from my pain, her lips pulled sensuously away from her teeth. Jagged, yellow shards were what they revealed when they were stretched to capacity in a cruel grin.

"Angela" she crooned. "Such an angel... such a lovely delicious Angel..." and just like that, her mouth widened gruesomely to something deformed, shark-teeth glinting in the light and her black hole swallowing me whole.

Xx~xx~xX

**AUHTORS NOTE:**

**WELCOME TO THE CORNERS OF IMMORTALITY.**

**If you are confused, by the happenings, you might want to read They Set Out to Kill Fate.**

**What to expect from this-a lot of character change from Charles. You might not recognise him, so be prepared to yell if you have become attached.**

**Xx**

**Tj.**


	2. Chapter 2

**MOVING BLUES**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**ANGELA WEBER**

The town was worse than what I feared and yet it was everything I had secretly hoped for.

It was quiet, the majority of its inhabitants much too old to care for additional influxes in their little population. The buildings were in the single digits when it came to the number of stories they reached and the air had the cleanness that suggested very little mobile traffic.

When I had woken up and peeked outside, the Toyota was gone. But on the kitchen table, Alice Cullen had left a note detailing that the cute yellow Volkswagen beetle outside was now mine. She had also told me that I went by the horrendous name of Florence, her opinionated words not mine.

'There is a little library fifteen minutes from your apartment Florence, which is waiting for your arrival at one thirty for a job position as their new librarian' the note ended. Right at the bottom, drawn out in her looping script she said, and I could hear her sad high clearly:

'I apologise once more Angela. I wish I could see the future more clearly; but sometimes I am glad I can't see it-for it could all well be just as bleak as it could be beautiful'

I scrunched the paper violently in my fist, stomping over to the bin in anger-such anger that I wanted to dial her number and tell her in the harshest tone I could manage that it wasn't so _bleak_. Such rage that I wanted to hate her and dislike her and war with the Cullens (wherever they may be hidden in this farming town).

But then, this part of me felt like I had to go there to _comfort _them for something that I didn't even know about. Some loss or other... Because that was the aura Alice gave. That they had lost a beloved... such a tragedy had come upon their family that trumped Isabella's crude visits into my life.

As I reached the silver little bin I slowed, glaring at it before walking dejectedly from it in the end, smoothing the paper over and placing it carefully in an empty drawer in the kitchen.

Xx~xx~xX

I got the job in the library.

I hadn't realised I wanted it until the old little woman with the slight hump on her back had smiled up at me and said "I hope you are good with kids, we got a kids reading club here".

I loved kids. The past ten years of my life had been about kids.

It's small and outdated but I can manage it well enough. There are three functioning ancient computers, all internet connected and some rather scraggy couches set up around the space. The books are the real deal though, no newer version junk most libraries give out. Hard cover, spine bound books with oil marks and bent pages showing the fondness of their readers.

It is perfect. The perfect escape from my own mind.

"Ms Tabitha" I murmured touching the name plate in front of my little desk. I wasn't Ms Tabitha-Ms Tabitha had died, Dolly-the old woman with the hump-had explained that to me. I had stupidly asked her who I was then and then she laughed, that adorable way old people do that lights up your own face even though you don't find anything remotely humorous.

"Why, you are Ms Florence Nightingale!" she giggled and that was when I laughed with her in real humour, till I saw that the resume she was still holding-that was apparently mine, although I had not filled it out-was typed in bold at the top 'Florence Amelia Nightingale'. That shut me up fast.

"You are kidding me, my name is Florence Nightingale?" I gasped, snatching the paper away from her and staring at all the credentials that were falsified.

"You kids these days!" Dolly chuckled shaking her head "Hope you not on drugs sweetie. I would not be so kind if you missed your any work days… not kind at all"

Xx~xx~xX

I kept expecting to see one of them throughout my day.

Not Edward with his perfect hair, six foot something frame and indescribably gorgeous face-forever seventeen, I knew that now. Not Alice, not the beautiful Rosalie and the other two Cullen siblings. They weren't in the grocery store when I had popped in after a satisfying day at my first job that didn't care for withdrawn spinsters (I was trying not to think how perfect my job was for withdrawn spinsters). I didn't bump into them in the queue at the supermarket( I had forgotten that I had left Forks with nothing and almost panicked until I retrieved a black purse from the handbag I found in the wardrobe, and it had a Ms Florence Nightingale's drivers license and fifty dollars in it).

It was only when I gazed upon the red tinged sun dipping behind the trees (Dolly had told me, rather proudly, that their entire woods were made up of red woods and I had to stop myself from saying we had a few of those back home), watching the beautiful almost clear sky as I drove back to the apartment did I realise just why hoping to see them through out my day was stupid.

It was during the day, firstly. And back at Forks, the Cullen's always went hiking with their parents when the sun was out.

"I guess they went hiking"

Xx~xx~xX

There was a note when I got back. This time it was in a perfect form of calligraphy, not or elegant delicate but something masculine and majestic. It was square and written entirely in capital letters, except the first letter of each word that was naturally required to have a capital letter-this letter had an exaggerated height in comparison to the rest of the letters.

"I would like to apologise to you in person, Angela... for the trouble that has befallen you..." I paused squinting back to the word 'befallen'. "Who says befallen in this day and age!?"

...the trouble that has befallen you due to my family, or the trust you had put in my family in the past, it read.

"I have stressed to Alice that the least you know the better, from my past experience with humans..." I paused at that again, cringing on the word 'human' but I had to charge ahead, this wasn't something I didn't know already "But we cannot whisk you from your life and not supply some explanation. It is unjust. A lot has happened, so much and too much to my family since our last move to Forks when you were but a girl... and we really should have just stayed away. Far away. Alice said you would call her and ask to meet her on Saturday..."  
Alice lied, I thought. But then, the thought had flashed my mind at some point during the day... I just hadn't made a decision about it... Alice the Psychic. The absurdity and total naturalness of it made me laugh.

"I could come and collect you from your work at twilight on Sunday. Edward is anxious to apologise to you, in person... and in his present state, it is hard not give him this"  
"Carlisle Cullen" it ended.

The good and handsome Doctor Cullen.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**JACOB BLACK**

"You shouldn't have come for me!" she wails. It's two in the morning, three weeks since South America and two days since Alice went to collect her high school friend after being shocked into screaming by a wayward vision...

And like clockwork, Bronze Barbie throws her self loathing tantrums in hourly intervals. It's eerie how she always manages to wake me up from my nightmare (or more accurately, Seth's memories) right at the part when a giant rabid dog-like thing grips me in its jaws while I am frozen watching Emmett get ploughed by another muscle bound fiend with black eyes and talons. Always at the part when I am about to have my spine snapped...

I wish I had never phased with him and peaked into his mind.

"You shouldn't..." she sobs and the sound of her crying up in the attic is momentarily muffled by Esme and Alice's insistent soothing-Edward's voice is absent from all of that, and I thank God, because the combined anguish would have broken me to tears too. It's an improvement I suppose, last week they had resorted to restraining her, forcing her to eat and restricting her visits to Nahuel.

That hadn't been pretty.

It had started with her blaming Edward, then herself (never Nahuel and Isabella) for what had happened. He shouldn't have come to find her... she shouldn't have shown him what was happening to her... it was her fault. It was his fault (at one point it had been my fault, but thank God for Amnesia so that didn't really faze me past a low irritated growl) but again, it was never Nahuel or Isabella's fault.

And then Charles voice would get involved in Edward's placating, Carlisle's plea's, Esme's desperate soothing and Rosalie's scolding-and then it would get really weird. Charles would be against Renesme's delusions that returning to South America was suicide at this point (not to mention the same as spitting in our faces after trekking all the way there for her) as long as every one stayed the hell out of it. The moment the other Cullen's got involved, it turned into Bronze Barbie and Fuzz against the world. And then of course Leah wouldn't sit that one out...

And she was in a predicament because of that. Charles and Renesme were always on the same fucked up wavelength when it came to intimidating their way into starving themselves at Edward's side. Three Bronze Mice, spreading the angst in that _attic..._

"I don't know why Carlisle doesn't just explain it to the rest of them" I muttered "Let them be with Edward. They need to be with Edward. They are immortals; they aren't going to starve..."

"Talking to yourself is a sign of madness" he breathes.

"What he did..." I murmured, ignoring my residential pot plant and shifting on the hard uncomfortable bed, its squeaking echoing in the air "Is real unconditional love"

"All fathers love their children" he states in that dry snobbish almost-musical tone of his that makes you want to punch his too pretty face.

"Is that so?" I scoffed "So you think you were pummelled by a bunch of extremist vampires and werewolves because your _daddy loves you?_"

Silence.

"You are only alive because that girl up there, the one going through some serious mental and emotional shit has a daddy who loves _her_" I said.

The chain clinked from somewhere where his shadow form was sitting. He knows he can't hope to be free of that until we are certain he isn't a Flora-zombie. Although, I am all for chaining him up-I don't know why he had to be dumped in my room?

"She loves me..." he says, haughtiness flying full swing "And you are always going to be _their _guard dog. The most you can ever be to her is a lap dog... do you know what she said to me once, after I made love to her? That sleeping with you felt like fucking a dog"

He waited for something, oblivious to my smiling-not because he couldn't see in the dark, but I kept my face facing the ceiling.

"It funny..." I chuckled eventually, my hands folded neatly behind my head "It almost sounds like you are expecting me to give a fuck?"

Silence again.

"Well, I got news for you ... you ponytail wielding punk" I growled "I charge for my… fucks!"

"Rose, Jacob is charging for fucks now!" Emmett bellowed from somewhere. Nahuel's eyes glinted in an orangey glow from his corner, sullenness wafting from him.

"Well, it was about time you stopped giving it up for free to Nahuel" Rosalie entered my room, switching the light on casually-although there really was no use for it-and plopping a tray laden with food on the little wooden table "There is something classy about a whore that knows its worth"

"You better eat" she hissed at Nahuel, placing a plate with a sandwich by his designer clad feet.

"Blood" he droned.

"You let that fox Renesme brought to you escape!" Rosalie spat "Do you think this is a bed and breakfast?"

"What I think is that I want blood" Nahuel murmured bored, half rolling his eyes "And I think what I want is fresh human blood. But Renesme... she knows how I like my meals"  
Rosalie stared at his impetuous face in shock and I silently hoped she would leap at him, feral and deranged and rip his throat out so he could never whine for 'Renesme' ever again. He wouldn't stand a chance shackled and bound with some titanium vampire proof chains. I as sick of hearing him go on and on about her like I was supposed to care or something... like was expecting me to loose it and be the one to break him free.

But Rosalie didn't move past frowning viciously at him, and he looked away with that bored to death look and stared uninterested at the worn out curtains covering the window.

"Nahuel..." Renesme began stopping abruptly before coming into view at entrance of the open door, her dress wisped into view instead before retracting with her. Her shadow moved slightly as she leaned back on the wall.

"Maybe I can go with him outside just so he can..."she began and Rosalie hissed at her dangerously, causing her to change her request quickly to something less offensive like… "I could get him some blood from a blood bank?"  
"No blood" Rosalie managed, her tone a barbed whip "He either eats food or squirrels"

"He is no good with animals!" Renesme cried and I heard her slump against the wall down to the floor, her shadows head bowing.

"I think it's you who is no good with animals, Nessie" Rose said softly "Such a disappointment..."  
"Don't judge me, Rose...!" she squeaked "I do that proficiently enough for the whole world, all by myself!"  
"Well, then..." Rose began, a strange shine in her eye as she looked at me briefly (I was determined to remain the picture of cool nonchalance even though my ex-imprint and baby mama-I wished I remembered how _**that**_ happened desperately-was whining and groaning not two feet from me).

"Renesme?"Rose murmured and Renesme mumbled something unintelligible "Come in and feed your man-child"

I thought for a moment she meant me, giving her a hard look that she smirked at.

"I'll..."Renesme began and I almost thought she as about to enter, that I would see her properly finally without the tears and red blotches. Without her ghosting out of every room that I was in, or that I was entering into. My heart picked up pace treacherously. I hoped she would come in, and in the same breath... I prayed she wouldn't...

"I'll come later" she finished defeated and ghosted downstairs.

Xx~xx~xX

Purpose.

That was all I wanted right now. Locked away here, with nothing to do but watch this stupid half-vampire only-male-of-his-kind pompous sulking brat-he was lucky I didn't know who he was or care, maybe the old me would have ripped into him by now...

Not if it would have hurt Renesme, I realised.

We were cramped up on this large estate in the middle of no where. The benefits of lodging with vampires revealed themselves in the form of 'bedrooms'. So the large estate that had the stupidly small four bedrooms, one bathroom and shower and a crappy kitchen and lounge didn't hurt so much since those of us who could sleep, had our own rooms to have our nightmares alone. Alone with this slow healing despair...

"Have you gone to see Edward?" Leah asked, shutting the bedroom door carefully. Illusions of privacy helped with the sanity.

Her hair was long, pulled back in a too tight pony tail at the back of her head and this made her already large eyes become all seeing. They had a certain gleaming depth to them that suggested she had tried to get Charles away from the attic-away from Edward, and to some food and air-and Charles being his new immovable self, had refused.

"No"

"He asked for you" she lied, sitting on the edge of my bed. "It's not so bad, Jake"  
"His legs are broken into six pieces, he has an arm that ends at the elbow as the only limb still attached to his torso and a section of his face is packed away neatly in a pouch by the side table" I breathed, closing my eyes and remembering the horrid fear that had gripped me when I had met his single tortured eye.

"It's bad, Leah" I whispered "And it's worse; Carlisle said he was supposed to reattach in a matter of hours since they collected every single part of him"  
"Seth won't leave the attic either" she dropped her face in her hands and spoke through them "He blames himself. He wishes he was lying in pieces, he wishes he hadn't frozen..."  
"Renesme blames herself too" Nahuel murmured from his ignorable corner and finally, he forgot he was the prince of shit-not, his eyes grabbing onto the instinctual understanding that something horrible was about to happen to him as Leah and I serenaded him with growls and snarls, the air heating up with our violent shimmering.

"Guys?" Jasper opened the door and peered into inside with a casual grin on his scarred face "Cool it. He saved Edward and we can't have you ripping up our guest"

"Not even a little bite?" Leah asked softly, falling back onto the bed-over my legs-theatrically.

"Oh, come on..." I snarled "He did a crappy job at saving him!"

"If the werewolf had severed his head and destroyed it-smashed it in or worse, you would be using your paws to dig up a grave, dog"

"Leah..." I kept a steady breath, Jasper had left and my hands had continued their trembling "You mind helping me move this bastard to somewhere more suitable...?"  
"Gladly" she smirked.

Xx~xx~xX

"I am moving into the barn!" I said in awe, gazing at the double-space height, piles of soft hay just waiting to be rolled in by some giant wolf and the little hidden nooks and smells of the wood.

"Maybe you can convince Charles to come along..." Leah trailed off and I gave her a pointed look.

"You don't get it" I said, chucking Nahuel indifferently into the hay-taking him by surprise before he could refuse the motion with his strength. He kicked his legs out and cast me a doleful glare, wringing his hands in the handcuffs Emmett supplied (I didn't ask why he owned a pair of vampire treated cuffs; although his large grin was begging me to ask him). Nahuel swore inaudibly behind the cloth (that I may or may not-definitely _may-_have used to fix the neighbouring farmer's truck). He continued to thrash, obviously hurtling swear words at me... but I didn't care for his swearing. And it wasn't because I didn't understand Portuguese either. Maybe it was because of that, just a little...

"Explain it to me!"Leah yelled, invading my personal space "Because I am going insane! Ten thousand barriers over one fucking night and I feel like I wont ever get through to him!"  
"Because you are knocking on the wrong door. You have the wrong house, Leah" I murmured holding her frantic gaze "He's moved"  
"What... that doesn't make sense! Shut the fuck up, Nahuel!" she glared at Nahuel's muffled indignant spluttering form.

"You are a disappointment. A heartless disappointment, Jacob Black!" she snarled, moving back and watching me fiercely. I let her, she needed this. They all had each other right now, and Charles was off in a world were his mother wasn't as perfect as she looked, his father was a sixteen year old hormonal forgetful idiot and now his grandfather was lying in ruins-he wasn't about to emerge from that soon-and when he did… well, that's why Leah was bipolar right now. Who knew what kind of Charles would come out of that.

"Have you spoken to Charles at all today?" she asked-accused-quirking an eyebrow.

"I can understand avoiding Edward-you really have no connection to him-but Charles is your son!"  
"It amazes me, Lee" I said "That after analysing Charles, my self and Edward... you still don't get it?"  
"What's there to get!?" she spat "That you are running from any emotional responsibility?"  
"I get him better than anyone could ever, Leah" I said softly and she scoffed, laughing derisively-a glimmer of the old pre-imprint Leah standing before me.

"Leah, I was him... don't you get it?" I said withdrawn. She blinked absently at me and when I took her hand, she let me lead her to the ladder leading up to the loft. She sat on the rack quietly.

"I know I am his dad" I told her sternly "But you need to accept that what I know about being his dad begins and ends with the fact that he looks like me. Well, kind off and we were the same age once. But not anymore, because he is older than me? Do you see what I mean-that he is older than me?"

She swallowed and looked away from me, unable to relax her hard glare just yet-so she cast it at a silent but attentive Nahuel.

"Anyway, that wasn't my point" I sighed "The point is... I was him. This is just like with Billy, what he is going through; when Billy was all banged up in hospital"

"Edward is not his Billy; he isn't his dad" she said stubbornly.

"Not physically" I told her gently "But emotionally? Come on, it's the most natural thing in the relationship between two immortals and an amnesiac. And just maybe... there is nothing wrong with that?"  
She was taking in steady hard breaths to keep from crying now.

"And with Billy, Leah.." I continued, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands in mine "Everyone would come to the hospital, hovering all over the place with their pity and shit. Asking all their questions about feelings and suffocating me with their love when all I wanted to do was be with my dad because I understood he had almost died, and I had almost been alone... but I wasn't. And he knew that too, and we wanted to just be together and feel..."  
"Shut up Nahuel or I will castrate you!" Leah growled only it came out as a wet blubber. He stopped his muffled complaints, his eyes closed and a heavy breath escaping his nose.

"So let him feel and when he is done, he'll come to you because trust me, the Charles you are calling out for..."  
"The door I am knocking on" she said softly and I smiled at her and nodded.

"Yeah, Lee..." I smiled "You are looking for the Old Charles. Knocking on the door of the old address, the wrong house..."  
"So what should I do?" she asked-a timidness I had never seen staring at me through her large umber eyes. So suddenly, I had to control my self and kneel rigidly by her feet-with her smaller hands in mine, with her leaning towards me... I felt like kissing her would be the solution to everything.

"Wait for him to send you his new address" I said hoarsely and a soft deliberate cough floated through the air, causing me to jump back from Leah and rise in a panicked whirlwind.

I couldn't see her face with the sun burning from outside of the barn behind her but the way her body was cocked one way and the fact that I could hear her harried breathing let me know she was finally up for braving being in the same space with me. Possibly acknowledging me too.

"This is exceedingly petty of you, Jacob" she said taking a step inside "Entirely juvenile"

"I guess she doesn't know you have become as immature as they can get!" Leah snorted.

"If I ever commit a crime and I am in desperate need for an attorney..." I grumbled to her "Please don't volunteer yourself, Leah"  
Renesme blurred towards Nahuel, removed the gag (Nahuel immediately began tattle telling in rapid Spanish or Portuguese or Gibberish… she would understand him, naturally). She held the crusty oil and grease stained thing in the air, frowning at it.

"About the cloth, I did wash it out. Those stains wouldn't come off" I lied "And uhm, him being here... he uhm, needed the exercise"

"You bruised him!" she yelled, rubbing a red mark on Nahuel's forehead from where I had bent a crowbar on after he called me 'Renesme's Bitch'.

"It's a birth-mark" I said, feeling myself getting marginally irritated. She hauled him to his feet easily and I smirked at him. He was the same height as her, who cared that she was about six foot... it's never good to be the same height as your girl (something Quil had told me). He spat in my direction and gave his own smirk.

"Do you want another birthmark?!" I growled.

"I can arrange a birth deformity, too!" Leah sniggered, enjoying Renesme's shocked eyes staring at me (She was freakily gorgeous in a repulsively Edward-like way that I was finding difficulty getting over...)

"What are you even doing kneeling by Leah's feet?" she asked me, taking a step towards me. She looked at me oddly-Bella's eyes holding me before I fearfully looked away. I kept expecting that any accidental form of eye contact could result in the imprint. And from her 'you should give a shit about what I am saying' expression, I doubted with all the chaos anyone had bothered to tell her I was happily divorced, amnesiatic and unimprinted to her.

Besides, it wasn't my place to tell her gorgeous-unkept and thoroughly Nahuel-whipped royal hotty that little fact. I remained silent, and she scoffed, throwing her head back.

"What, are you proposing to her?" she asked gouging me with her eyes "Is that it?"  
"I seriously don't get why we risked EVERYTHING to come and rescue your sorry ass!" I roared, control and fake indifference lost and my cheeks burning from embarrassment and anger. She recoiled violently like I had slapped her across the face and blinked stupidly at me.

"Jake..." Leah warned but I ignored her, taking a step forward towards Renesme and not allowing the touch of Leah's hand on mine to stop my advance.

"No seriously?" I growled at her and she blanched-whiter that a vampire now "You are a worthless piece of…!"

"Enough!" Carlisle boomed emerging between Renesme's spooked form and my trembling self, his dark eyes flat and fearful. I looked away from him in shame.

"Leah, take Nahuel to Jasper... his wounds aren't bleeding out so Jasper can relieve Jacob of watching him" Carlisle instructed "Renesme, go with them"

I leaned back on to the ladder, avoiding Leah's gaze as she left. Avoiding Carlisle's strange commanding form, too.

"Jacob Black" he began sternly "I am not asking you to relate to her because I know you have given so much to her as it is-even if you don't remember it. You don't know her and you are not bound to her in anyway save for Charles."

"Yeah but..."  
"I know how she is, Jake" he cut me with a softer tone "I know what she brings out in people but if there is one thing I implore you to understand is this; she was taught this by her mother, to always be on the offence even when not attacked. And I believe some of this she picked up from Nahuel. But, do not indulge her. She wants desperately to be away... and as much as she is convinced she is not under Flora's influence, we think otherwise. From Angela we gathered that the individual does not remember being persuaded"

He left then, casting me one last apologetic look.

I was still pissed but I was more thankful I hadn't imprinted on her. I shuddered to think how true all of Nahuel's snarky remarks would have been when it came to the old me. I would have been a good host to my imprints lover, I would have bent backward to do whatever she wanted…

"Bronze Bitch" I growled, taking my clothes off and phasing. It was more comfortable to sleep as a wolf. It was more comfortable to ignore the sorrow as a wolf. And maybe tomorrow, we would have found a way to make Edward whole again.

**AUHTORS NOTE:**

**If you had been in the middle of reading this when it came down, I apologise. Read it as soon as I posted it and was appalled at the mistakes I missed. Lol.**

**As for Charles, it will all be gradual-as I tend to operate with slow build ups. This may or may not have its own sequel too. To those of you who are not adapting to Angela being here, uhm… well, she is . She is the eyes to the outside environment of the Cullen's situation-the peaceful town they are living in. And then Jake took you in to the chaos…**

**But that's not why Angela is around. ;) Bella, bella… the ultimate bad guy? I don't know, the twilight world Stephanie Meyer built seems under populated. So let's wait and find out. Jake and Nessie…is there hope? Well, its only chapter two…**

**Eddie may be missed for a bit,**

**TJ**


	3. Chapter 3

**ANGELA WEBER**

**Xx~xx~xX**

The little town had a name, one of those generic names that rhymed with the next town either up or down the main highway. It was an inconsequential title, nothing worth thinking about or musing over in quiet moments and nothing as interesting as the way Albuquerque or Idaho sounded. It would be similar to being pre-introduced to someone named John, this little town and the feeling it induced in me. John was a cardboard name. How would you describe someone named John without physically meeting them prior?

Brown, stiff and abundantly spacious in blandness.

But if 'John' in all its monotony was paired with the last name of 'Belluci' or something equally exotic and difficult to pronounce, would he still be so bland in the mind? That was what the Cullen's were like in this town-a difficult well formed surname that rung in musical quality, sitting right beside 'John'. I hadn't seen them yet but I had not been looking out for them any more, now that I had a personal invitation directly from them... but where they were spotted, the boring inhabitants of this 'John' were abuzz with excitement.

"Oh, my..." the woman in a white blouse touched her hand to her chest delicately and shook her head in wondrous disbelief. She leaned forward on her chair, an elegance that suggested finishing school and debutant formals wove its way in the motion "So polite, so handsome too!"

"And his wife... gorgeous creature" the woman opposite her on the table sighed, taking a sip of her tea. She was vastly different from the thinner woman with the pink ribbon. This woman was large and round, her hair maintained in a regal manner and eyes beady but holding a roguish quality.

The coffee shop was dappled with what could only be regular patrons except for the peculiar tired woman sitting behind the giggling very mature women-the poor Florence Nightingale who had obviously slept too much or possibly too little-holding up a news paper and on her third cup of coffee.

It was rude of me to think such a thing about women who were old enough to be my grandmother-or more realistically in regards to my own age, my mother-but there it was; they were lusting for one of the Cullen males they had seen. It seemed the Cullen's magnetism to us lesser creatures cared not for inactive hormones and creaking limbs.

It felt like I had been written into a new book by J.K Rowling, were Harry Potter had a sex change and was now a forty something year old woman paranoid out of her mind and currently illiterate with regards to makeup and a hair brushes uses. Sitting in the coffee shop was like watching crazy people burning alive while carrying on in ignorant merriment at a jamboree-and they were all watching you douse the flames with worried eyes, like you were the crazy one for finding something wrong with the inferno blistering about...

Didn't you know this male God you had seen at the supermarket or having his gas pumped was a monster? Didn't you know that the lovely woman next to him, sweeter than sugar was a succubus? Didn't you know...!? Couldn't you tell!?

I wanted to shout it out; we are living in a world with wizards and Voldemort! But they were all united in their insanity, and would sooner call _me_ the loony. When Mrs Pink-Ribbon noticed my hard stare at her and her friend, I straightened my newspaper and turned the page then cowardly ducked behind it.

I was still expecting to see a headline along the lines of 'VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN?' or 'OPRAH WINFREY HAS AN INTERVIEWS WITH A VAMPIRE'. All I got was the Lakers score, something on two pop stars reuniting after a tumultuous abusive relationship in the past (I had admittedly stopped to read this) and confirmation that the war in the Middle East... continues.

It was still better living than waiting on Isabella. Being here had stretched out the probability of my seeing her, it may happen but it would be later than sooner and I took greedy comfort in that.

I had fifteen minutes before my shift at the library. And I knew it would be a long one, even though the hours were shorter-I would be counting away furiously until the moment Dr Cullen arrived.

"Dear?" Mrs Pink-Ribbon called and I snapped my head up hard, eyes wide and stared at her in confusion. They never spoke to me, not since a day after I had arrived. I had picked up smoking instantly, wore sweatpants continuously and was not interested in their invitations for Bible Study.

They would rather a monster that goes to church than a girl who smokes and gave up on the bible.

"Yes" I tried to smile.

"Have you met Mr Smith'? His boy, he has cancer, I hear?" she asked. I blinked at her, my face slackened in lack of comprehension.

"Mr Smith?" I asked. "No, I can't say I have met a 'Mr Smith' or his son"

"Oh, well... they only recently moved here, before you in fact" she smiled and glanced at her friend, who nodded to her in encouragement to continue "And there are a lot of them-the Smith's. The whole extended family, in fact!"  
"The whole... family?" I asked her, the weird nauseating smile stuck on my face.

"Yes, and they are struggling to deal with his son's ailment, I don't know what type of cancer it is but Mr Smith..." Pink-Ribbon paused to give a rather girly giggle for her age-somewhere at sixty possibly "Well, he admitted it _wasn't_ his son. Such a good man he is, looking after his late brother's children when he is so young himself!"

"Mary, you haven't told her our names" Pink-Ribbon's friend said disapprovingly.

"Oh, yes..." she placed a wrinkled spotted hand on her chest, turning slightly in her seat with that debutant prudish stiffness "I am Mary Granger and this..." she pointed at her large friend who smiled at me, revealing yellow stained teeth. I bet she smokes, maybe not in front of Mary the Prude Debutant.

"I am Hannah" the large friend smiled "And you are..."  
"Florence" Mary announced and I had an urge to correct her-or was it _incorrect_ her-that I was in fact, Angela. I remained quiet though and smiled, a little more relaxed now that I knew they were not about to barrage me with religious questions and information on cancer and lungs.

"Is the... Mr Smith, is he a doctor?" I asked them.

"No, now that's strange thing to think! A farmer of course-what else could he be moving into the late Francis's property?" Mary laughed pausing to take a sip of her tea. "But he has the most pleasant voice, oh my! If my doctor had a voice like that, I would definitely lay off the sugar!" she scooped more sugar into her tea and winked at me.

"If your doctor had a face like that, you would definitely pile _on_ the sugar so you would always be in his office!" Hannah chuckled, her belly bouncing with her bosom. She shook her head and took her glasses off; wiping them on her shirt before placing them back on her face, still laughing. Mary was an angry shade of red, mouth squeezed mercilessly until it was white.

"Hannah, I will have you know I have a son much older than him!" Mary defended herself, embarrassed to be made fun off and embarrassed with the truth of the joke. "Anyway, Florence, excuse Hannah-she isn't a Jehovah's Witness like my self..."

It had been too good to be true; as though there could be two beings in this whole town that held God in reverence but managed to give him his privacy still.

"But Mr Smith is really struggling" Mary sighed, shaking her head sadly-her greying tight curls bouncing around her face "Trying to keep his whole family together, poor man!"  
"This recession is truly evil!" Hannah said her lower lip quivering with passion "Putting good people like the Smith's in such a position!"

"That house is a three bedroom house!" Mary whispered viciously, leaning over her chair towards me, her eyes bulging to convey how bad it was that a house should have _three_ bedrooms...

"I bet Mr Smith has lodged up in the barn with his pretty wife, he is such a Goodman" Hannah swooned. "In this day and age, a young man could never manage a teenager! Dear Florence, he is caring for all of them and the boy, who is seventeen mind you... and has cancer! That poor blonde Ken Doll... "

A thought popped in my mind that if I opened Hannah's bag right now, there may just be bottle of Jack sitting snug beside her knitting kit and she would have no qualms about dropping a measure into my coffee.

That was what made her instantly endearing to me. Hannah had a respectful rebelliousness to her, in all her glorious fully fed 'maturity'.

"Well, I was going to invite them all to church..." Mary said sitting rigidly in her chair and adopting a compressed and constricted look that self righteous Christian's always wore when helping the 'damned' and 'needy'.

"Nah, invite them to a barbeque" Hannah drawled, pursing her lips and rolling her eyes, before winking at me "They may be pretty but there is a sort of underfed look about them"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"There is no wild game around here..."Emmett groaned, drooping in the chair and propping a large arm on the armrest. He didn't bother to hide his grouchiness, lower lip hanging and eyes staring prickly at Nahuel's form beside Renesme.

"Hunting small furry things is an insult to my nature and stomach" he continued, ignoring Renesme's uncomfortable fidgeting at his unblinking stare on Nahuel.

"Blood goes into your stomach?" Jacob asked in shock.

"Where did you think it went?" Emmett frowned "My brain?"  
"No, definitely not the brain" Jacob chuckled, turning a page of the magazine absently "Somewhere a little down south..."

They were in the lounge, as had been the custom since Carlisle suggested Jasper keep everyone calm-something that was more achievable if they were all together. The property wasn't what they were used to; the wolves appreciated the large natural trees in theory but had not had the chance to enjoy them. There was no way Leah was leaving the immediate perimeter of the house with Charles floating between the attic and toilet and Jacob didn't trust the situation to go anywhere without Leah and Charles in his sights.

"We found out where we could get some cows" Esme said "Carlisle and I have ordered a few..."  
"Cows!" Jasper spat. "Worse than Elk..."  
"Jasper, this isn't the time to be picky..." Esme scolded "We have to be smart about this and respect the surrounding farmers' herds. There are seven cows arriving today..."  
"Seven is too little, Grandma Esme" Renesme whispered softly. She had been extensively quiet sitting on the floor beside a bound glowering Nahuel, casting an oblivious Jacob fleeting confused looks.

"Sweetie, it would be strange if we purchased a whole herd" Esme said softly "Especially since we are a struggling family trying our hand at farming"  
"But that won't be enough! There's you and Carlisle and us..." she stopped abruptly, glancing quickly at an indifferent Jacob lounging on a worn chaise by the window with a Sport's Illustrated magazine hiding his face from her. When he didn't give a reaction to her slip up she continued shakily, more confused than before "Uhm, couples... us other couples and my Father"  
"You can eat food" Rose sang sweetly from the kitchen. "I am making Shepherd's Pie and some other Southern Goodness"  
"I don't like to eat food, Renesme" Nahuel droned and Jacob peered at him from the rim of the magazine before dipping behind it and snorting. There were a number of comments and snide remarks working through him-not because of Renesme, but simply because Nahuel was intolerable. A spoilt brat with a long pony tail and sharp appealing features too whimsical to be either masculine or feminine and this Jacob had concluded, did not make Nahuel worthy of his irritation but Nahuel was working hard to receive it regardless.

Jacob didn't care about Renesme, he soon realised. He also realised that if he was going to imprint on her again, he would have done so long ago. And with that knowledge and after another heated argument with Leah on her conflicting emotions about Charles and his own conflicting emotions about Leah; he had taken a time out in the barn to reflect. Renesme Carlie Cullen-once Black... was a stranger to him and he realised (something unlike him due to its maturity in content) that he didn't need to be rude or subservient to her to prove to anyone-himself mostly-that there he was not an imprint puppet. Polite was fine enough, and staying well away from Renesme helped him in a ripple effect to be relieve of Nahuel.

"Are you going to put up with him talking to you like that?" Alice asked and Renesme simply sighed, looking away from all of them as Nahuel's bound hands gripped her own hand hard, in warning.

_I'll figure something out,_ she whispered to him but she didn't manage to stop the lingering tint of uncertainty in her mental tone.

Xx~xx~xX

"How is he?" Carlisle asked Esme the moment she was done with the rabbit. He had given her the rabbit; it would not be nearly enough as present to quench the still raw thirst in him. He had stopped denying that he needed more and it shamed him to know that his knowledge of this way of life he had established was greatly depleted by the fact that he had not previously satiated the beast with human blood before.

His had been a journey from starvation into the warm kiss to an animal's neck. How cruel he must have seemed to Jasper and Alice when he got them off of human blood. Carlisle was moody-and because he knew the cause, he didn't have the luxury of acting out childishly. He was thirsty-but the very thought of biting through fur made him incensed. He took solace in the fact that his control had not wavered, although his thirst had increased. He was strong; he had to be... the trip in town was a test of that, so he could bring Angela to their home. So she would understand...

Whether she would feel pity or become wary of them, it was up to her. But she was to understand.

"I did some physiotherapy for his legs" Esme told him, a weak smile on her face "He insisted he didn't need it since, well, they aren't attached to him and he is a vampire but I did it anyway. I needed to do it, do you understand that sort of feeling?"  
"I do..." Carlisle said, catching her in his arms as a wet sob worked its way up Esme's throat but failed to escape "Sometimes just to feel like you are helping to ease some of the pain gives you purpose, a reason to be near him..."  
"Maybe you should just ask Caius, Carlisle" Esme whispered into his chest. He remained quiet for a moment, his nose buried in her soft hair-comfort and love chasing away his lucid nightmares of Edward spinning through the air and landing in the middle of advancing rabid werewolves. Edward getting lost in the mass of black fur and yellow claws tipped in poison black tar. That last moment when Edward had flung a paralysed Seth out of the growling cage.

"No" Carlisle said-trying to keep from growling. He held her tighter and shuddered lightly when her hand ghosted over the middle of his back, along his sine and rested on his shoulder blade. "As much as Caius has knowledge on werewolves..."  
"You said their claws may have had poison!" Esme yelled, pulling slightly away from him to look at his face with a hard imploring gaze. A gaze he had seen before-if there ever was a person who could make begging seem like a threatening act, it was Esme. She stared into his inky eyes and kept him locked in her arms as much as he held her in his resolutely. "You said their eyes had been black pits, Carlisle... did you not say once that werewolf eyes are always yellow with dark pupils?"  
"Caius cannot know, my love...!" Carlisle said desperately, tenderly "Whatever cure he knows of to allow Edward's limbs to reattach, for Edward's venom to produce enough potency... that cure Esme will cost us more than this poison has cost Edward, believe me!"  
"But Charles...!" Esme gasped, burying her face once more into her soul mates chest; her eyes closed and visions of Carlisle's orange eyes, Edward's marred face and Charles steely eyes distant and dripping with intolerance to his surroundings.

"He'll come out of it" Carlisle said, his own thoughts mingling with fear. He kept his tone positive when he told her this, willed him self to release some of his selfish worry on what colour his eyes were 'supposed' to be when he finally had a substantial drink. They were an orangey colour right now; surely they would be something less demonic after a cow? Aro may have been right; he held his abstinence of human blood like a trophy, an arrogant proclamation to God and the Devil that he was above being a monster.

"No worry, he will come out of it" he finished evenly "We all will"

Xx~xx~xX

**CHARLES BLACK**

Xx~xx~xX

**x**

"You should get something to eat"  
"_You_ should get something to eat!" I accused and he laughed softly, the odd twisting movement of his mouth that had terrified me once, clinching slightly due to his gash. I was desensitized to his malformation, his lack of legs and arms-the scars on his face. At times, I was scared that if I blinked and my eyelids remained closed for too long, when I opened them again... the pain and gore would be fresh in my heart once more.

"It really isn't so bad" he murmured.

"Liar" I hissed tapping the side of my head. He was in pain, constant pain-never the prospect of dying from blood loss or numbing from trauma. What was happening now was him becoming inaugurated to the pain-just like I had pulled in the sight of him on the couch, too small and boxed under the blue blanket, swallowed it like a pill every day. He had pulled in the pain as something 'normal', with each passing second.

"Charles..." he warned, and I rolled my eyes. I knew were this was going. "You need to..."  
"No" I said obstinately and he sighed. "I'll only leave you,...I'll only go if we are going somewhere to find a cure"

"Okay" he closed his eyes. "Just, more talking to everyone. Deal?"  
_By everyone do you mean Jacob?_ I asked him softly. A direct thought process, like I had with Renesme. It was like placing an envelop in the mail box, his mind being the mail box. No more free range perusing of my mind for him ever again. He had to knock now, and when he did and I felt him, he could place an envelope in my mail box too.

"Yes, I mean him" he said coolly and I felt the soft prodding behind my thoughts. I let him in, and he gave me a snippet of Jacob's woes over his disposition as my father, brother and friend.

_He has Leah, _I snapped.

_She needs you just the same, _he sighed turning his head stiffly to stare at the backrest of the couch._ It really isn't as bad as it seems, _he continued his masochistic ranting, that I had been having a ear full of for the past few days, running from migraine to slight headache with his soliloquies.

_And you need them_, he murmured. He kept trying to sneak in the images and thoughts he had picked up from everyone but I screened every mental package. I wasn't about to be roped into that. I didn't want to know about Nahuel and I was grateful Renesme hadn't tried to explain that to me-as most parents would have attempted I supposed. But none of us were normal...

There was nothing normal happening here. And it felt sick but I agreed with Edward; us being here, locked up in some hidden town was the closest to peace we were going to get because we were together. There was no worrying about who was where and what was happening-save for the other Quileute wolves left in Forks. And Renesme had refused to go ask Jacob how they were doing when I had asked her mentally. And I wasn't about to engage Leah and pull her in again...

I had been resolute in my declaration-she was to have her little house in the woods. There were not to be any two ways about it, no leading her on that this life I was born into was supposed to be part of her burden. If she could go...

"What is it?" he asked. I had broken the link, locked the door and closed the mail box. I was staring out the little window that let in so little light in the sad attic, staring down below at Jacob trotting casually into the barn, his tail levelled and ears alert and Renesme crouched behind a broken cart stacked with hay and spying on him.

I showed him the image. He laughed.

_What's funny? _ I asked, frowning. The strange telepathy was heaven sent, even if it was only with Edward and Renesme-it gave a measure of private dialogue in a house filled with supernatural beings. Edward and I were the only ones with absolute privacy-Edward would always have his thoughts to himself and now he couldn't enter _my_ mind without my permission at all.

_She can tell something is off, _he laughed._ She thinks he is having an affair with Leah._

"That isn't very funny" I growled. He ignored my violence-he was used to it unlike everyone else.

_They aren't having an affair, of course._

_I know that! _ I snapped-I lied. I was more or less certain they weren't having an affair. More or less was the same as being in the dark-and choosing to be optimistic when it suited you.

_She shouldn't care what is going on if she is with Nahuel,_ he murmured.

_You are like an old crippled man with binoculars, you know that?_

_I am bored..._

_And in pain_, I sighed. He had forbidden me from telling Carlisle this little fact-pain was nothing when it was yours alone, spread it out and it hurt more.

_You should eat something, Charles._ He repeated.

"I said I wasn't hungry" I said absently watching as Renesme gave up on whatever it was she wanted to see and stalked out of sight. Strange creature that she was-almost schizophrenic in behaviour-she didn't seem to know what she wanted or exactly what she was doing here.

She didn't want to be here.

But then she did...

Nahuel... was he her poison?

_Is Nahuel her poison? _ I asked Edward.

_Will you let me show you something? _He asked. I nodded stiffly, not turning to look at him and watching furiously if Leah would be visiting Jacob's barn instead. He touched my mind and I sighed mentally, releasing.

It was a one-sided conversation Renesme had had with Nahuel, using her gift. It begun with Nahuel calling Jacob a dog. The way he said it with his voice and arrogance made me instantly violent. But I stilled that emotion quickly, moving past Edward's thoughts into the memory:

' "_I cannot believe you let him treat me that way!" Nahuel growled "That __**dog!**__"_

_Nahuel, she whispered to him with her gift. They won't let us leave you know that; they wont believe we want to go on the run on our own-that we wont return to South America. I don't know why they came for me... it was pointless, you are right. But let it play out, let them become accustomed to us; be compliant Nahuel, appear changed at least...'_

He stopped Renesme's placating mental tone, and his own memory of her face through Nahuel's mind and Nahuel's face through her mind. _Do you see what's strange in all of that? _He asked me. I shook my head. _Try, Charles._

_I don't know._ I said without bothering to try and explore the mental clip.

_They want to return to Joham._ Edward said coldly. _They want to return to that civilised hellhole._

_I still..._

_Try, Charles! _ His voice boomed in my mind and I flinched.

They want to return to Joham. Joham was Nahuel's father... there was no suspicion there.

_Joham does not care for them, and they know it. _Edward murmured. _So why return to a place were you are not cared for?_

_I don't know._

_Flora. _He said. _They pledged fealty._

Hypnotised into loyalty and no memory of the fact. The world we were living in seemed too impossible to survive...

_Nahuel must have been instructed to keep her in South America-he would not leave without her. And she may have been instructed to remain with Nahuel and so... Joham is as intelligent a vampire as I had feared. _

_She is here now._ I said. _It's not like she can go very far with all of us here._

_Charles... do you think she would _want_ to leave us? _Edward asked. He showed me the wistful memory Renesme had shown him, back in Alaska before she had run back to South America. The revelation that had sealed Edward's conviction to have his daughter back, once and for all. She had been able to come to us, before. She had never stayed longer to keep Jacob and me safe... and suddenly she didn't remember this initial reason.

_Are you asking me to pity or understand her? _ I sighed. _Because I already do. More than anyone, I think..._

"And I am grateful for that" Edward murmured "They are reluctant to accept that... certain things happen, bad things are done but a being can remain good to the core"

_I think she would leave because she loves him-she loves Nahuel-in the end. Not because of being compelled._

_That isn't love going on between her and Nahuel, my dear boy. _He said stiffly, Isabella's human face flashing over his eyes. _That is bondage and the sooner I get my legs back, the sooner I give him the boot._

_I thought we were being tolerant because he saved your life?_

_Well, think of it this way-I'll be saving __his__ life... the sooner he leaves, the less likely Emmett will kill him for __**fucking**__-_I blanched at the whip Edward's articulate melodious tone embraced the vile word with-_with his niece._

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"You know things are bad when the vamps start giving you googly eyes" Leah laughed, entering the barn. She was oblivious to the man behind a closed tiny square glass, high up on the face of the house watching her with a peculiar form of peeved melancholy.

"Hold up!" Jacob called, skipping behind a stack of hay quickly and casting a frightened Leah a glance before dipping down to grab a pair of pants from his stash "Just need to get my pants on!"

"Do I want to know why your pants are off and that chicken is limping?" Leah chuckled, watching as the hen scurried away.

"For your information, I just phased" Jacob grumbled, tying the string of his pants. "So, Nahuel was giving you googly eyes? Want me to thump him for you?"  
"As much as that suggestion makes me all tingly and warm inside" she chuckled-warming Jacob up inside instead "It wasn't Nahuel alone. Jazz and Renesme just vampire eye-fucked me"  
"You sure it wasn't just Renesme, because that image might help me later on" Jake grinned and Leah scowled at him.

"Well, the truck arrived with the cows" she said flopping on the floor. "So I guess I won't feel like the most desired being anymore "

"I wonder how their going to get the cows up to Edward" Jake mused.

"I wonder how Renesme and Nahuel are going to take being excluded"

"Hasn't she eaten a meal before?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah, you got her to eat a burger" Leah smiled. "She must have been five at the time, technically one and a few months or so and..."

"Hmm, sounds interesting" Jacob yawned. "Maybe she and Nahuel can feed of each other or something"  
"You know, I bet they have before" Leah grimaced in disgust "Sounds like some serious sex ritual they would perform 'Pledge your Allegiance and Slit your Wrist'!"  
"You are gory, Clearwater"

"I try" she sighed, lying back down on the ground. "I haven't seen Charles at all today"

"How is that going?"

"Hurts like hell, but I console myself with the fact that Nahuel's face was used as a bowl to pour cornflake and milk in by Rose"

"How did Renesme take it?"  
"Like she would even dare against Rosalie" Leah snorted "She ran to get a towel like a good little b-"

"Name calling is beneath you, Clearwater" Jacob reprimanded. Not because he cared about Leah's manners, but something about Renesme seemed so pathetically broken, like she was putting up a front but had no more ammunition left.  
"Beneath me?" she snorted "It _is_ me, Jacob Black and don't forget it!"

Xx~xx~xX

**ANGELA WEBER**

Xx~xx~xX

**X**

He was parked just outside in a dusty old Mercedes Benz, nothing like the sleek Rolls Royce I had imagines he would pull up in.

I walked past the car, thinking he had chickened out-maybe these demonic beings knew about fear after all. It was only as I passed, thinking how strange it was for a man to park a car in front of a library, did I realise the oddness of what I had walked by.

The sun was out, burning over the top of the blue Mercedes and inside it I made out a shape. As I passed, I made out blonde hair and as I walked ahead-a chill ran down my spine at how impossibly still and pale the man behind the steering wheel was. I stopped abruptly, foot hanging over the pavement and jaw slackening.

"Florence?" he called. I peeked behind me; he was still safely out of the sun, the car window must have been rolled down. "Please?"

I let my leg fall and took in a slow breath before turning around. The car was rather faraway but somehow he had called me back without having to shout, still with as much melody as a harp. I walked back inflexibly and stood by his window.

"Hello" he said. I didn't look at him and nodded instead, looking down the path longingly at my car. "I last saw you when you brought your brother to me, when he had a cold. Do you remember?"  
"Yes"

"You have grown up"

"As it should be"

"Yes, as it should be" he murmured sounding so wretchedly broken, my eyes were pulled in , to look at him staring at the steering wheel. Blonde hair perfect and skin paler than white... he was beauty. He was vision. He was a monster having a 'sad moment' in a banged up car.

"Am I to come with you?" I asked him.

"I had thought that would have been a good idea" he said smiling sadly "But currently, my family is adjusting rather rigidly to everything... and as it is with my kind; ill adjustments are never good for humans"  
I shuddered at 'humans'. He noticed and smiled weakly.

"I am sorry, Angela" he said softly, his eyes-not the yellow I expected but something amber. As long as they were not red or black, I could handle. I closed my eyes as the words left my mouth.

"It isn't your fault Doctor Cullen"

"But it is; I created Isabella in a way" he whispered.

"You created _that_?" I asked dumbfounded. He looked behind him thoughtfully then up at the library.

"As I said, it isn't currently the best time for you to come back with me" he smiled, an odd sad smile that seemed ancient in its depth"Maybe I can explain inside"  
"But the sun..." I murmured. The door shut softly; it literally shut, without ever having been opened and sitting inside it was a perfect amount of nothingness. I blinked and leaned into the car, touching the seat in shock.

"Florence?" he called behind me. I spun around abruptly; he was in the shadows, in a flannel shirt that was supposed to appear worn out, just like the Mercedes-but his face and shimmering hair made it look like it was custom made in Italy. "I know its late, but maybe you will keep the library open a little longer?"  
I nodded dumbly and fumbled for the keys in my pocket, making a quick step up to the door and not-so-surreptitiously checking if he was walking or floating beside me. He noticed and smiled softly at my weird mixture of fear and inquisitiveness.

"I do apologise..."  
"There is nothing to apologise for, Dr Cullen" I said hurriedly, I swung the door open and rushed to switch the light on. Wasn't I terrified before? It felt like fearing a kitten, with Dr Cullen. Fearing a nick, a small scratch... but picking it up anyway because it was just that cute.

"Please, call me Carlisle" he said, shutting the door behind. "I believe you are much older than I am now?"  
"Don't remind me" I sighed.

Xx~xx~xX

"You might receive a few questions later on, from the inhabitants" he said, touching a pale finger on the table and drawing a circle there. "I saw two women across the road at the nursery, watching us"

"Did they see you ghost out of the car?" I asked.

"Did _you _see me _ghost _out of the car?" he asked, smiling. I blushed hard and he frowned, looking away at the kids section of books.

"Why couldn't I come with you?" I sat slowly down on the chair, across from him on the small pink kids table. Were I was sure I looked awkward, he managed to look like a lounging god on the tiny chair.

"You wanted to see Edward?" he guessed and I nodded. "Someone familiar, no?"  
"Yes" I paused "Just as long as it's not Isabella"  
"Of course" he said seriously. "I am certain Edward wanted to see you as much..."  
"He didn't know I was coming?" I asked suspicious "You hadn't told him?"  
"I didn't need to tell him" Carlisle said "He would know, naturally-or unnaturally"

"Of course, Alice is a psychic then why can't he be one too" I muttered.

"It is more along the lines of an 'intuition into the minds of others'"  
"Or in simple English, he reads minds?"

"You are very good at word play!" Carlisle laughed, the sound of it startling me. Like wind blowing into brass chimes. I stiffened, he noticed and made a small movement with his foot that I was sure he didn't need to make.

"I would like to speak with Edward" I said seriously "I have questions that I feel he is the only one with the authority to answer"  
"I understand" he said "And understand that he did want to see you"  
"As much as I would rather stay out of your..." Satanic Rituals seemed too strong a description in the face of Carlisle, much more fit for Isabella "...weird family issues or whatever, I think... I think I want to know"  
"Are you certain?" he asked me, raising an eyebrow. "You cannot unlearn certain things and I do fear what I tell you and you subsequently find out will cause you to stop all contact with us. Which may be for the best, Angela. It may be that your safety after all of this will lie..."  
"She said she had ways of finding me whenever she wanted" I said quickly, my voice quaking. "I didn't believe her, of course-or at least, I refused to believe her for my all sanity. But sitting here and seeing so clearly that you aren't like her, Doctor..."

"Please, call me Carlisle" he cut me.

"Yes, Carlisle..." I sighed, removing my glasses and placing them on the table. My eyes stung but I was sure I could accomplish keeping the tears away "I need to know everything, I realise. If there was something that I learnt growing up in a Christian home..."  
"I know about Christianity" Carlisle smiled "Although the type of Christianity I grew up with was at its rawest"

He smiled a soft smile that conveyed such goodness. I couldn't imagine him being born and growing anywhere. He looked like he just came to be.

"Well, I know about bad people and I know about good people" I said "And I also know about people who do bad things but are inherently good and people who are full of fake pleasantries but are inherently bad. And I can feel it from you, that goodness that is so real and tangible; even though I am afraid... it is a different sort of fear..."  
"A fear of the unknown?" he offered and I nodded. He was undeniably right.

"Well, if I was to die at the hands of you Cullen's-the real ones, not Isabella" I explained when his eyes begun to widen "I would be dead by now"

"What I mean" I continued "Is that I trust you"  
"You shouldn't" he said quickly "We may not be evil, but we are made from evil"  
"And if you know of Christianity like you say you do..."  
"Then I know we will never stop being in atonement because our never ending existence spreads evil on the world!" he said impassioned. "Are you saying you want to know, Angela? Do you want to know what you are sitting opposite on this babe's table?"

His tone changed, that lovely pleasantness gone and if I had been naïve enough to think of him as harmless as a kitten-I now saw that his destructive power lay in his violent passion. I nodded, now afraid. Not of him, but of myself. Could I survive being around such a thing, such a being?

"Vampire" he said in such raw disgust, I cringed back "Demon of Blood"

I gulped.

"You had known, just... refrained from using the word?"

I nodded.

"Okay then" he sighed. "You know. Is there anything else you need to understand"  
"Edward" I said and he frowned slightly, glancing briefly away.

"Edward. What do you want to know? Remember, it is you who said some things only he has authority to answer"

"I... well, the part about how it is you are his father"  
"I made him. And I brought him up as a new born vampire" Carlisle said softly "His mother and father died of the Spanish Influenza in Chicago. He was the first I made-no, made is the wrong word. The first I saved"  
"Spanish... but that is like old..."

"He is over a hundred, in mind and experience" Carlisle said. "Seventeen with everything else"  
"Emotions?" I asked.

"Well, I suppose his emotions would be tamed by his maturity but yes..."

"Wow" I breathed. I suddenly had an urge to go straight to Edward with a note pad and conduct an Interview with a Vampire.

"We moved around, immortality reasons and came upon others and they were nearing death too"

"And you saved them?" I breathed in awe and he nodded.

"Yes, I saved them from death-but I was stupidly naïve and arrogant with my compassion" he spat in a way that could never ever hope of sounding crude "I saved them from death and heaven and brought them to conscious purgatory and _blood._"

"Blood" I said softly. "Is that why I couldn't come with you?"  
"Yes and no" he said. I waited for him to explain and he smiled when he saw this. "Yes; my family has had it hard, this area is much sunnier than Forks firstly-wait, those questions you can ask Edward later on ( I had lifted my finger to stop him)-and the immediate game in the conservatory is protected. We would have to go further out and currently, we are suffering from serious paranoia. I had to buy my family cows today after weeks of rabbit!"

The way he said it, like a father who had a low paying job who could barely provide for his family. I smiled, trying to remember what I had feared and when I did remember, I scowled. How Isabella could turn to such when made by such a good being... and angel... a fallen one, but an angel regardless.

"So if you feed on animals...?"  
"They had gone for so long without feeding" he sighed wearily "You would have been a serious temptation"  
That scared me so suddenly, remembering Isabella's black hungry eyes gorging on my fear.

"The other thing is Charles" Carlisle said carefully "You met him I believe; at the mart in Forks?"  
"No, I can't..." I began then I remembered the imperial man who seemed so skittish in his beauty, pointing my car out and then skipping into the woods. "Green eyes?"  
"Him..."  
"Isabella..." I began trying to piece the puzzle but coming up with _fear_. "He isn't a vampire"

"No, but he is currently... indisposed of some of his humanity and he is very volatile. We do not operate with uncertainties when it comes to supernatural beings and humans."

"Right" I said, choosing not to wonder on how the young man was not a vampire-something about him being _other_ making him seem more dangerous.  
"Angela" he said "I have to leave"

"Of course" I sighed. He got up slowly and before he turned I called his name. "Carlisle, I... I want to see him. Edward. I want to come and see..."  
"Yes, of course" he said "Angela, please... you have given so much with you trust but I must ask you to be patient with us. Could you do that?

"Yes"

And with that, he was gone like a ghost.

Xx~xx~xX


	4. Isolation

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

_**ISOLATION**_

_**And his mind and heart found they were prisoners in his body but neither could escape without dooming him entirely-and they were not nearly as sadistic as to end him for price of freedom, and so they succumbed to this loneliness his solitude brought to them.**_

_**Surrounded by other bodies, equally as isolated as he was, they wept in silence.**_

_**Xx~xx~xX**_

_**X**_

**ANGELA WEBER**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**x**

I had always been a fan of fiction.

Seldom did a story on true events and more importantly, _probable_ events-seldom did such content grab my attention. I wanted to lose myself in Lord of the Rings, be Harry Potter against Voldemort and thrive in the worlds of his Dark Materials. I may have even picked up Anne Rice at one point, because I was such a sucker for the 'greats' of fantasy.

"You don't have stories on Werewolves and Goblins?" I asked and Lucy coughed-an abrupt sound one would make when hit with an unexpected swear word.

"This is a _Christian_ community" she said with finality. I cast a curious glance towards her-an odd creature that she was, ancient like any disciple to a Library. An image of my self in the near future stood before me, in her shiny black shoes; pinched mouth, hair so grey it was white and hard crevices carved into her spotted dry skin. Her eyes had a milky grey film around them and they may have once been a bright blue. She was short-a tiny thing that somehow whipped terror in the loud scarce teenagers that occasionally popped in to pick up a book for a school assignment.

Lucy was about to say more on the matter of Christianity and Goblins, her hand raised to make some valid point and then her face scrunched up. It wasn't worth her energy she decided, so she let her hand fall wearily as though I was trying her patience with my moving around the Library and suggesting unnecessary improvements to their depressed Sci-Fi section. She huffed once and wheeled around, leaving me with a copy of Little _Red Riding Hood_ in my hand.

I wonder if Lucy would believe me if I told her my father had been a pastor and I had saved my virginity for love and Jesus at one point.

I returned the book to its place on the shelf and continued my inspection. It wasn't nearly as late as it should be, but Lucy was old-if she admitted it to herself or not-and I had to make sure things were half way orderly before leaving my shift.

Werewolves, Goblins and Christian Folk; I had learnt so long ago that it all didn't matter, before Isabella in fact. Your heart and virginity were not guaranteed to be sacred just because you followed 'the Holy way'. Not that I had ended up following 'the Holy way' word for word, but I had been damn near to it... and what good did that get me?

If this was the punishment, it felt too steep. Dr Carlisle Cullen was a vampire. Carlisle with his shy smile and timid beauty-were these the demons the Devil was crafting in Hell? I dread to think what Angel's looked like then!

"Dear... it is never a good thing to grin to ones self" Lucy droned, she was standing tiptoed by the desk, signing away furiously on some sheet of paper while I waltzed through the empty Library, pushing books in place and setting them back in order. "You spend too much time in your own mind" Lucy sighed, peeking at me. "You need a _man_"

You and I both, Lucy. I was grinning again and this time she failed to stop herself from joining in, shaking her head like I was an adorable pet that had peed on the carpet.

The Cullen's were not demons, and all vampire authors were in on their game. All I needed to do was find out about any half-decent vampire book and expose them all. Such wishful thinking, it was not nearly as simple as that and maybe Lucy was right. I was spending way to much time in my broken mind.

The Cullen's were not demons, that much was true and true. _Victims of Circumstance_ seemed to be my reason and explanation, thoroughly romanticised to support my slowly developing crush on Carlisle. I didn't want to feel excited, nervous and terrified like this. I felt it hard, infatuation at being invited into danger by a fallen Angel.

But something about his existence in this world made my already shaky resolution to turn to atheism, wobble and buckle. For if some demons were truly Angels fallen from heaven, then what was to say vampires were not of the same cut? Simply, some fallen Angels chose to follow Satan into the Inferno and others were left to wonder our earth? And they could contaminate us easily, spread their damnation into us. And now they were cursed to wonder the earth for all eternity, like a living prison while we had the escape of Death to be away from them and received into heaven. So what do they do? They feed off of us like cattle for vengeance...

"Lucy?" I whispered. She didn't hear me, hovering over the filing cabinet. "Lucy?"  
"Yes?" she droned, balancing her pen between her thin lips. She pushed the file inside its drawer and pushed the drawer shut before surveying me annoyed.

"Where is the farm... the one that was recently bought?"  
"Bough by the Smith's?" she asked.

"Uh..."  
"Third farm out of town" she sighed "You know, you'll do good to not snoop about that poor family"  
"I am not snooping" I said a little insulted "I just asked one question"  
"You better not be falling over that young _married _man" she said curtly and I blushed.

"I think I will leave now" I said.

"Well, be gone then" she said a little too joyfully "You think I am too old to manage _my _Library? Well... I can tell you, young lady, I have been doing this long before you were born!"

I didn't doubt that fact Lucy, but I wonder what you would say if I told you I knew someone who was popping in and out of Libraries long before _you _were born?

Xx~xx~xX

Living on a diet of noodles, cornflakes and toast had drastically changed my form. I needed size thirty-two jeans now, after notching my belt too tight and almost peeing myself trying to undo the thing in the toilet.

It had been difficult to not get depressed during my first few days in town, watching the old folk move about abundantly. It felt like Alice had brought me to an old people's community. There were a few younger couples-but they were _couples_ and if I had moved out of my paranoia and self-isolation, I may still have been depressed further by this fact. I was fine with being the oddity, the single female with a slight smoking problem and a slowly developing pill problem too boot. No husband, no kids, no friends and no pet. Worse than the residing vampires situated just out of town.

The clothing section was dismal-and although I had expected this, I still had the nerve to be disappointed further. Out of style jeans and a whole bunch of tank-tops were reluctantly purchased. Dean, someone's twenty something year old dead-beat son, served me with badly hidden innuendo's on a proposal for casual sex.

"I am old enough to be your mother" I told him.

"Sure" he drawled eyeing me with mild interest, his eyes falling continuously to my chest, although there was nothing truly visible there with the hoody on "...but you ain't really my mother, and that's fine by me"  
I walked out of there in a huff, although internally I was going through a mosaic of emotions ranging from revulsion, anger and a difficult to swallow flattery. To admit things were parched in the south seemed such a pathetic worry, what with having a 'Fallen Angel' not thirty minutes away from you. I certainly didn't want to think how one problem could help the other...

But I thought it.

And Lucy's voice rang in my ear, withered and screeching, "You better not be falling over that young _married _man"

And it was like high school all over again, with the gorgeous Cullen boys and the ever perfect Edward with his bronze hair and we were such idiots acting like he had invented the colour 'bronze'...

"Shit" I breathed. I was in front of the apartment, the car engine still alive. "It's what happens to people who come into contact with them, isn't it-you turn into hardened teen devotee's ruled by hormones?"

I laughed my head off all the way up to my apartment, sealing any doubts that I wasn't a mental job broken out from some far away asylum to my fellow inhabitants.

Xx~xx~xX

"Noodles again" I murmured, opening the packet in a rush, the water was already boiling on the hob. The little bits fell in to the water and I watched mesmerized as they began to cook. My mind was teeming with a thousand and one questions and only Carlisle could answer them. It seemed to have taken a lot for him to come to me and explain things as they were...

"Noodles...?" she tutted "Why don't you try Pasta and Bolognaise?"

I froze, my heart clutching my chest so powerfully I felt a spasm of pain rock from the left side of my chest through to the rest of my body. The water boiling filled the sudden cold air of my apartment, and my fingers clenched so tightly the core of my fist was gripping hot sweat in seconds.

I stood there, waiting for her to say something else... _anything_ else. To end things, but she never did and soon, my noodles were roasting instead of boiling. The crackling from the pot seemed to hit something in my mind and I reached over to the switch and turned it to zero slowly. She didn't say a word... I gripped the pot's smooth black handle and lifted it slowly from the red plate and placed it on a cool plate. Nothing.

"Isabella?" I said tentatively.

Nothing.

I closed my eyes and went back to the sound of her voice in my mind. It had felt so real... but it hadn't been. I turned around rapidly, expecting to see her standing gorgeous in the living room but she wasn't there. My heart thudded so violently, so painfully that my lungs went into overtime, working to keep the oxygen feeding it. I breathed hard, then gasped and fell to the kitchen floor. The cold tiles eased some of the fear.

It had been a horrid memory of the past, one of many blocked out of my mind. She had come to me, made me rearrange my meal and proceeded to tell me about the grand promise she had made to... someone. Some strange name... had there been someone else there? I couldn't see anyone... it was a far away memory, years ago. The days when she would pop in and out of my life and rearrange everything-simply because she missed Forks and hated it at the same time. This memory somehow got lost in the other erased ones. Like she had forgotten to steal its contents.

"I need to tell him" I thought "He needs to know; they need to know-she promised someone something... no, not something... _someone, _to... to tem"

Who was them? Everything was murky, and I was afraid any second delay would find the shoddy memory lost once more.

The noodles were forgotten and I set out to find the large piece of land with the run down house, thirty minutes out of town to the east.

Xx~xx~xX

The dust road was a long line disappearing into the horizon and on either side of it was weird mangled earth with bits of green sticking out. I had parked the car in the middle of the tiny road momentarily, trying to recall Carlisle's mentioning of how difficult things were at his house-but my memory was entirely shoddy thanks to Isabella and her _fucking_ with it. He had said his family was cranky; a human was no good there at the current time.

"Oh, she isn't the one we need to be wary off" I whispered, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel and looking left and right anxiously "Oh, there are others... she is out of her mind. Insane pretty thing that she is, Carlisle... but she is playing with fire because as mad as she is, she isn't one bit less intelligent than she makes out. She is playing with fire, because she knows it isn't her who will get burnt"

I lurched the car forward and hesitantly led the vehicle up the road, spotting one lone fat cow grazing in hectares of abundant land. If they were supposed to be farmers, they were off to a bad start.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**RENESME **

**Xx~xx~xX**

**x**

He was always by Papa's side.

A guard, a protector, and a confidant... all the things I could never hope of being. Not at this point at least, and maybe not even back _then_ in the not so distant past. He stands tall and fearsome; a walking arched form of mass violence to the eyes, hair darker than I had ever remembered it-like the colour of Papa's hair when it was wet...

"Renesme, I cannot go another day with this _junk_!" Nahuel spat, flicking the oatmeal with his leg-no doubt aiming for my leg deliberately. The bowl clattered over my calf, the gunky stuff slithering down my skin, warm and gooey. I stared at it unfeeling and then picked the bowl up-grateful he hadn't broken it this time.

"Well, if you would drink from the rabbits and the-" I began and he growled low in warning. A heavy heart beat approaching stopped our oncoming inhuman whisper-feud. We froze, mouths still hanging open but the words forgotten and eyes wide and sparkling with wonder as the juicy sound filled our ears.

"It's the dog" Nahuel sighed, falling back theatrically and closing his eyes. I wanted to tell him off for the usage of the word 'dog', a term he used specifically for Jacob and reserved _'her' _for Rosalie and '_your son's pet'_ for Leah. I didn't really care for the latter two. I just, well, Jacob would go off at such terminology what with his temper and we were trying to keep the atmosphere civil...

"It may not be him" I said, although I recognised each tugging and pumping beat easily. The door opened, he took one step in and I held my breath.

"Nope, it is the _dog_" Jacob laughed, holding a tray full of food in his arms. "I am guessing Charles is still up stairs-I have some 'treats' for my dear son"

I didn't know if he was talking to me or Nahuel-as obvious as it should have been. I stared at the oatmeal on my leg instead.

"Hmm" Jacob murmured, no anger at the word 'dog', no pain that I had remained silent (albeit a shocked silence and not a cruel one). Just 'hmm'. He placed the tray on the little antique table with the vase of dead flowers, I swallowed as he moved past us-I wanted to take in a breath but it would just be torture. Nahuel on the other hand, was staring greedily at Jacob. Jacob moved two steps to the centre of the hallway, reached up to the ladder lodged upwards-his back elongating languidly, I gulped (I was in need of air, desperately)-and he caught the latch in his hand and tugged down once. The stairs came down, with it the louder sound of Charles beating heart and Jacob walked back to the table with the tray. I had failed to comprehend the motion of his back turning and he caught my staring.

"As much as I am sure you and I enjoyed snacking on each other" he grinned, my eyes wide and bemused, locked with his-the same eyes I had known for all my existence and yet I was terrified like I had been caught out by a stranger "I don't appreciate you and your boyfriend looking at me as though I am something to eat. I assure you, I bite back"

He snapped his teeth at me and I jumped back like they could cut through my skin in his human form (they could bruise pretty well, he just didn't have the backing power of the 'wolf' to deliver the bite), as though he had venom that stung... as though his playfulness was a battle strategy.

"Jacob!" Edward's voice roared and Charles snickering fleeted downwards. I don't think I wanted to know whatever Jacob was thinking that had been caught by Edward and exploited for rare joy by Charles.

"I am not coming up there!" Jacob frowned at the stairs "Charles, take the damned tray, eat the food and tell Leah that the sun will continue to rise and set so I can get some fucking sleep!"

He paused, huffing when neither Charles nor Edward responded "Just can't trust anything _part_ leech, eh?" he grumbled, winking at me. I blushed, Nahuel snapped his head in my direction but I was held by Jacob's inquisitive strange eyes.

"I trust you wont poison the food if I leave it here?" he tried-he was pushing me to respond. I hadn't spoken a word to him since our... well, _my_ breakdown. "I'll take your silence as a no, then"

"You know she won't poison it, dog!" Nahuel snapped, his hands reaching for mine-I wanted to yank them away so suddenly, I had to stiffen to keep from doing it. Jacob didn't acknowledge him, instead he stared relentlessly into my eyes, looking and searching and when he was satisfied nothing was there-he shrugged and skipped merrily away.

I exhaled hard but when I took in a breath his scent was still there. Possibly more decadent with my thirst. "He is intolerable" I managed.

"You should let him _know_ he is _intolerable_ instead of turning into a _mute_!" Nahuel growled, pushing my hands away. The ladder was still down, the entrance to the attic wide open and there was no more pretending Papa couldn't hear us. Nahuel hadn't caught hold of that fact.

"Renesme?" Papa called softly and I gulped. I hadn't been to see him in a while, preoccupied with keeping Nahuel's behaviour from spiralling out of control.

"Papa" I whispered and Nahuel scowled. He wanted to be outside, but I had been running away from Jacob's impetuous trotting in front of me, wagging his tail and lolling his tongue-all these movements had seemed threatening. He might as well have painted his slightly knotted russet fur blue, right by his muzzle and called himself the Wolf Brave-Heart with all his aggressive swaggering and absent minded intimidation...

Like Jacob knew I was obsessed with him and Leah. Or that I was obsessed with him alone as this strange hypnotic being-in equal proportions to my obsession for an escape plan from this cursed farm to return to Nahuel and I's private comforting hell.

"Renesme?" Papa called again "Wont you come up?"  
I felt Charles poking at my minds wall tentatively, he was reluctant to use his gift... or maybe he was reluctant to explore it with anyone as thoroughly as he did with Edward. I got up, ignoring Charles probing-my thoughts had no control at the moment. Papa was kind enough to pretend to never know their contents but Charles... I was still a blemished woman in his eyes; I didn't want to smudge my image further.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Nahuel grumbled "You going to leave me to the dogs?"

A growl came from the attic-low, menacing and vibrating. Nahuel cringed and turned away. I was certain he thought it was Papa's-but I knew my father's growl. I had heard it before, when I was a child and when I was being childish and it was not nearly as deep and wild as this. It reminded me of Jacob's wolf growl...

I touched the ladder tentatively and gave Nahuel one last worried look. He was staring at the tray sulking... I didn't trust the tray to not be laced with venom suddenly, so I quickly picked it up and wheeled it away from his angry sights and climbed up with it.

"Jacob said..." I began, glancing at Charles back briefly. He shrugged his shoulders impatiently and I gave up on the sentence, placing the tray on top of the chest in the corner. "Well, here is some food"  
"Thank you, Renesme" Papa murmured from his couch

"He could have brought it up to you" I said tersely, folding my arms.

"I remind him of Billy" Edward sighed. "And Charles reminds him of himself; it is hard for him, behind the grandiose and immaturity"  
"Perpetual Immaturity" I snapped, the gateway to rant about Jacob seeming opened. I was trying to keep my words concise, but they were already filling to the rim and begging to be spilled as garbled as they were.

"There is something you should know about Jacob" Papa said suddenly and my eager frowning froze into bemusement. Charles stiffened in front of the small window. He hadn't turned around and it made him more intimidating than his six foot something rigid form when he chose to be so cold. I wished he would let Leah here; I had no doubt that it would soften him some. But he had the worst of all worlds-Jacob's resolute character and Edward's masochism. He didn't care for his own pain if he had decided on a purpose.

And I feared his purpose because it went beyond caring for his grandfather.

"He asked me to tell her" Edward said suddenly and I realised he was having a parley with Charles. Edward sighed, and twisted his body easily on the couch, so I was no longer looking at the back of his head and I cowardly ducked from the image of his mauled face to look at a painting hidden by a cloth in the shadows. "Well, if you would let me show you what Jake asked me not five minutes ago then you will know I am not _butting_ in?"  
"Fine" Charles snapped-deep baritone bouncing of every object. Edward sighed and Charles released his locked hands from behind his back-something that was so distinctly Edward that if he was not too muscled and darker skinned, with longer darker hair-he would be Papa's doppelganger.

"Renesme" Edward said carefully "I would prefer to talk to you about this without Nahuel's eager ears?"

"I can take him out" Charles said suddenly and Edward chuckled.

"I don't think that that is the 'take him out' I had in mind" Edward laughed. "Although, if it does get you to get some fresh air... by all means, 'take him out'"  
"Don't think I don't know what you are talking about" I snapped and Edward laughed fully.

"It's a private joke" Edward explained.  
"At my expense?"  
"At Nahuel's expense" Edward chuckled. Charles remained silent. There was something I was missing, a dangerous fact; my son and imprinter had either swapped identities-Jacob's heart broken coldness seeping into Charles and Charles sarcastic self falling into Jacob...

"You really should go give Nahuel something to do rather than bitch about everything" Charles said suddenly and I jumped back in surprise.

"Charles, apologise to your mother!" Edward warned.

"Or what?" Charles asked evenly, turning around finally and staring straight at Edward. Charles eyes gleamed with none existent light and although his tone suggested a sneer should grace his lips, his face remained an unemotional mask. He didn't acknowledge me and instead held a stare down with Edward that lasted exactly two minutes and three seconds. Charles blinked, his eyes met mine and I heard my self yelp.

"I apologise, I didn't mean to offend _you_" he distinguished. "Nahuel should be given something to do... he is... bored..."

"Charles" Edward warned again.

"Just give him something to do and come back here so Edward can do what he thinks is right..." Charles snapped and turned around to glare out the window.

"Hormones" Edward said humorously but I was not so convinced, even as I climbed down the ladder and they resumed an off topic discussion about the benefits of vampires being farmers.

Xx~xx~xX

"It really won't change anything" I said quickly "I know we need to leave"

"Do you?" he asked shaking his head "In any case; I prefer the _dog _to those oafs"

"Nahuel!" I reprimanded quickly and he frowned in the slightest twinge of shame.

"The big one..."  
"You know his name"

"Argh, him" he rolled his eyes "He looks ready to feed on me"  
"You are mistaken" I said dryly "You and I are the thirstiest beings on this farm"

"I still prefer the _dog_"  
"You wouldn't have preferred him when he was the way I remembered" I whispered, although I was certain the old Jacob would have found it impossible to mar Nahuel under my affection. The uncertainty this winking version of Jacob that spoke to me as casually as the sun rose, and ignored me without any thought to the action-this uncertain Jacob might be more tolerable to Nahuel, but for all I knew it was a ploy to get him alone and chew him up. "Anyway, he has refused to... let's just say 'watch over' you and me or whatever. It's going to have to be Rosalie"  
"Argh!" Nahuel yelled "Worse!"

"Alice is in a difficult place" I told him softly "She well, doesn't approve..."  
"Carlisle" Nahuel said with finality "If I am going to pretend to be helpless, I would rather do it with Carlisle"  
"Carlisle then"

Xx~xx~xX

Edward was propped up on the couch when I returned. Charles sat in a wingback chair lazily; his legs kicked out in front of him and eyes staring unseeingly ahead. His lips were set in a hard line and his hair shone beautifully. He was more beautiful than any breathing man, so beautiful in his roguishness that my heart swelled at the fact that Jacob was spread all over him. All it took was a casual glance to conclude he was Edward through and through, but I saw it easily...

And I wished Leah would see it soon, and stop spending so much time running after Jacob.

"So you are aware that Jacob is not the same?" Edward asked as I sat down on the dusty beanbag. I looked briefly at Charles for an elaboration but he only closed his eyes.

"Yes" I whispered.

_Renesme... let me in. _It was Charles-only the 'let me in, it was Papa's voice. He was using Charles as a messenger, to carry his elusive thoughts to me. I hesitated, quickly arranging my mind to something vaguely blanker-as much as Papa probably knew my thoughts, Charles... I had to save face somewhere!

It started with a trickling of Charles own thoughts, dark things covered in shadows and ice-Leah walking glumly out of the barn although Charles had heard her laughing with Jacob. His emotions on that were a prickling withheld sadness. They moved from that to my form crouched by a broken cart... then they began to merge to something with a different signature, something entirely complex and detailed. Edward's mind.

_The day Charles died_-the memory was titled in Papa's cool low voice. I felt my self shudder and I peered an eye open, looking at Charles grimacing face with his eyes closed. I closed my eyes again and allowed them both to pull me through the maze of the memory-a vampire's mind, was always full of mazes I supposed.

First it was emotions on the fact of his death, I flinched. My own emotions when this had been relayed to me were subtler-I found out he had died when he was now alive. Papa skipped through them and I felt Charles grumbling impatience through his mind-he didn't appreciate being used in this manner.

And then we were in snow filled darkness-but it was filled with light, the way preternatural eyes twist shadows into paper thin forms. White floor and dry trees bent and withered. Trudges in the snow, groves... then footprints and then paw prints and back again and the strangeness of the two sets merging and fading into each other until one point when it was certain that the being had been both man and wolf for a good few seconds.

And then blood... horror and gore... wolves torn and splattered. I felt the tears in my eyes, Charles voice clouded Edward's resilient internal monologue as he moved through the memory-_Stay with it, not the emotion..._

_It is about the emotion, Charles! _Edward snapped and Charles overrode his quick anger, the aggressive part of him that wanted to pull Edward into an argument.

_The context, it would help you understand..._ Charles droned out.

And there he was, in the white soil naked and gone. The imaged skipped ahead before I could let out a sob, a cry... something... and suddenly Jacob Black had jumped out of the window of the Forks Manor, and he was staring suspiciously up at me-only it was Edward he was looking at. And Edward's memory-mind's-voice thought that Jacob didn't recognise him, and it was the strangest thing to hear Jacob's suspicions whispering into Edward's mind. I realised it was the telepathy, so was the odd droning in the background. The thoughts of others.

_Leech! _Jacob thought with such hatred, that I cringed back. The memories clipped back and forth, and I soon realised its message, Jacob had forgotten them all. Even Charles...

Charles pulled away rudely before Edward was done and he stated fluidly "Enough, she gets it"  
"Huh?" I blubbered and I realised tears were streaming down my face. I touched one cheek and stared at the glistening liquid on my fingers.

"Here" Charles said in a softer tone, handing me a serviette from _somewhere. _ I took it carefully, stared at it and then dabbed my eyes. I wondered if he thought I was breakable, like his father thought, the old unwinking heartbroken desolate Jacob...

"He doesn't know me?" I whispered and Charles nodded and then startled me when he rushed forward, kneeling by my lap and wiped another tear that had escaped my eyes with a large finger. He moved back just as quickly, but a little clumsily with his strength so that his chair moved with the motion.

"He has memory loss" Charles stated.

"You said we were to be strong about this?" Edward asked and Charles sighed, mumbling that he hadn't expected the 'waterworks'. "What Charles means by memory loss is... he is not imprinted to you and as far as his mind knows, he never was and he never lived through the imprint"  
"Is this a sick joke?" I spat.

"I thought you would be pleased to know?" Charles asked, removing his hands from his face "Now, you can spoon feed Nahuel without worrying about the smell off..."  
"I said enough, Charles!" Edward roared and Charles scowled at me so viciously I looked away. He was unstable; I thought this automatically and reproachfully that it took me a second to remember an important fact. He was my son, not some unbalanced mental person... even if he was acting it with his three extreme moods; shifting from anger to sadness and some warped form of aggressive affection.

"He isn't imprinted to you" Edward repeated. I closed my eyes and refused to believe his lies. They all lied; they will lie to the point of shaming the devil if not to keep Nahuel and me from returning to our home.

"South America is not your home" Edward stated "It may be his... but not yours, Renesme Carlie _Mason"_

"He is not..." I said in a high voice that startled me "Jacob is..." I wanted to say mine but Charles eyes flashed in warning "I am his imprint"  
"No you are not" Edward stated. I shook my head, smiling manically. "Did you feel anything, the night...?"  
"I felt..." I closed my eyes recalling the date; I was writhing in pain when that one vampire had gone crazy after what was supposed to be a 'sip' of my 'divine' blood... throat mangled and blood everywhere... Nahuel had had to suck the venom out of my wounds. I had thought I would die... I had felt like I had died...

"He isn't your imprint" Charles said "He is a free man"

"Like you?" I asked him suddenly.

"Like... Leah" he whispered and my heart stuttered at the breaking hurt in his eyes. He looked away from me and composed himself. "Is that... it?" I murmured.

"It broke" I said, closing my eyes and the realisation filling me with an odd mix of relief and a sharp pang of sorrow.

I looked at Charles carefully and then some of the insistent madness that had been operating around me made such dreadful sense that I felt selfish for being concerned with only my stomach and Nahuel's escape plans. "You are trying to break it" I whispered. "Are you trying to die?"

He looked up at me startled by this conclusion.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" I asked softly, dangerously, some of the anger and violence that had squirmed out of me at my father's werewolf attack and Jacob's strange behaviour with Leah and Charles hard 'terminator-esque' character floating upward. "Charles, are you starving yourself... are you trying to kill yourself!"  
"Answer me Charles!" I yelled, rising from my chair and staring at his still form "Charles, goddamit, are you trying to kill yourself for that lying cheating bitch!?"

He rose so abruptly from his chair, I had no time to realise the motion and Edward hissed low-but there really was nothing he could do presently. His limbs twitched in the chest and the tray hobbled awkwardly before clattering on the floor when the chest jumped up ferociously.

"She has not lied about anything" Charles said and the raw emotion in his voice startled me, the glistening in his eyes caught me off guard. "And I would not do that to her-kill myself"  
"Then what are you doing?!" I cried, reaching a hand to him unsure. He took a step forward and touched his finger tips to mine.

"I am saving her" he whispered grasping my hand and closing his eyes. I realised he was seeing into my mind, through my own gift-emotions were such _treacherous_ things. There it was, my love for him twisted and under developed but still potent. He could not die-then everything would have been ruined without purpose...

"Don't make me the purpose of your destruction" he murmured and I gulped down a whimper. "I want you to know one thing, Mother... out of all the men in your life, Edward and I would never disappoint your love or demand of it anything as steep as just being present and existing in your heart"

"I... was... it is just that..." I looked away from him but returned the strength of his clasp with my smaller hand, the tears stung, the pain in my heart was raw and tender and... Jacob wasn't imprinted to me. How hard I wished this so at one point with such vehemence but now I was not so sure... I remembered so abruptly that moment Jacob had touched my stomach and felt Charles soft nudging, when he had looked up at me and I ceased to be 'Kid' or 'Ness' or 'Imprint' and I had been the mother of his child. And now, as it were and as I had no hope of unlearning-he would never know of that, he would never care for that because it had never happened. He was sixteen, and my own immortal mind realised so solidly what sixteen year old Jacob was all about-and Charles realised all this too with my hand in his... and he realised my pain at this, my broken heart at all of it and my mother's soft shame at 'announcing' this sordid fact to me (they were kids and silly bumbling humans, I had told myself. What do fragile creatures know of love). Such a soft shame it had been for Isabella Cullen, that the sixteen year old Jacob had been all about _fucking _Isabella _Swan_...

It was all heartbreak once more, I was scratching without control on the memories of my past and Charles was watching with such a refined love that I felt ashamed and eternally blessed to have insisted on having him with my childish greed not one day after my marriage to Jacob. He watched as I failed to let go of his hand and shield my mind from seeping through his touch. There was something clattering in the distance, a car maybe... but my emotions and the depth of passion burying me alive was to great to surface from.

Jacob gone, dead in the snow... Jacob trying to make Leah laugh-and as was revealed by Charles, she laughed to humour him, her sadness remained after she left Jacob. Jacob winking at me only to have an excuse to have a parley with Father, and possibly to hint to me that I was not his heart and souls sole provider of nourishment. He was independent in that fact...

It was breaking inside of me and I had never been aware... do I mourn or do I rejoice? What should it matter, it didn't matter... but then Charles wanted to do the same for Leah-let her be the old her. But she had never ceased to be anything other than Leah, as far as I could tell. I had unfortunately never met the old Jacob...

Had he winked at Isabella too? Taunted my father when he knew of Isabella's affection for him, even when she had not said it or acknowledged it to Jacob; this was as Isabella had explained it to me. Edward was saying something, possibly to Charles but I couldn't understand the meaning of it nor did I care. The sounds of reality meant nothing to me as I was consumed by memories.

_Charles, you and Leah are free._ I whispered urgently to him. _Stop hurting your self. Maybe Jacob died; maybe he was lucky to be back..._

"Charles!" Edward roared, snapping me out of my sweet despair-Charles let go of my hand, gave me one stern indecipherable look before flinging himself haphazardly through the small window. After his destruction, a gauge was left in the wall and the wind swept in and whipped the smells of the outside world about.

Hay, earth, wolves and blood.

"Oh" I whispered.

"It's only blood, Nessie" Edward said carefully.

"Only _human _blood" I smiled, taking an absent step towards the hole in the wall.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**ANGELA WEBER**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**x**

"Angela?"

I got out of the car slowly, wiping my hands on the bottoms of my new jeans. They were sweaty, I was sweaty and afraid. Their house was in need of paint and a lot of other things. Shutters were hanging on hinges, the face of the house creeping with an aggressive vine and the lawn was nothing but matted straw carpeting. Broken carts, ancient tractors and other odd assortments of machinery that were supposed to help with the whole 'farming' thing littered the area. To one side was a large barn-this looked relatively newer but it too, was in bad need of paint.

"Hello, Doctor Cullen" I mumbled.

"Please, it is _Carlisle_" he smiled. He was in faded jeans and a white shirt, standing still right by the face of the house, in the thin shadow spreading the house's perimeter.

"Carlisle" I said then and jumped when a mass of red _something _seemed to roll into the barn. I stared at the barn, then at an apparently unaware Carlisle, then back at the barn "Did you see that?"  
"See what?" he asked.

"You saw it"  
"It's a surprise to see you here" he said instead, smiling at me.

"Is this a bad time?" I asked looking back at the barn warily.

"It's always a bad time with vampires" Carlisle grinned fully and my mind went completely blank, eyes wide and drinking his beauty. "Erm, I was... talking to someone actually, a guest if you may call him that. The rest of my children-the ones you know-they are off exploring the edges of the land, by the forest. Esme has made you a late lunch though?"

"She has _already_ made me lunch?" I asked bewildered by his very casual demeanour, leaning against the house with his hair ruffling in the wind like he wasn't a few hundreds of years old with a rare acquired taste. He smiled and shook his head, to some private joke or fact, I thought.

"Yes, _already_" he said "We heard your car coming up the road"  
"You heard me from that long-ass rural driveway?" I asked rather crassly.

"No, dear Angela!" Carlisle smiled "From the _main road_-you need to get that engine tightened"

Xx~xx~xX

"Actually, this is about a perfect time to come" Carlisle murmured, opening the door for me. I walked in tentatively, the darkness of the house hitting me immediately and I walked into a piece of furniture. "We were manufacturing a scenario for Edward to bond with his daughter you see, in private. Difficult thing to do with us. We only just got to the house from the gazebo out front when we heard your car..."  
"You knew it was my car?" I asked dumbly.

"Well, no... I had to run and see who it was" he said "We organized a quick lunch for you"

"Oh" a lovely female voice murmured and I felt movement, just barely "We haven't been... uh, staying in tabs with human mannerisms. I'll just open the curtains"

"It really isn't.." I had begun to lie about the level of darkness but the room was suddenly-almost at the same time-filled with sunlight. As though the curtains were operating on electricity and the woman had pressed some button to open them. I blinked once and then noticed her standing beside Carlisle, more beautiful than I had imagined.

"You must be his wife, uhm that is... Doctor..." were had my manners gone to?  
"Carlisle" Carlisle cut me rolling his eyes humorously.  
"Erm, Carlisle's wife?" I finished blushing. She nodded her head, took a step forward and extended her hand. I took it gingerly. It was cold and hard.

"Yes, I am Esme" she said softly, releasing my hand and stepping back like I was a sergeant and she was a soldier in formation. She was giving me space, I realised. "And although we were not prepared for you, I am so glad you came Angela"

"I uhm, sorry" I mumbled "I should have called"  
"No, no...!" Esme protested immediately "You are probably busy making friends in town..."  
Far from it, Esme.

"I am glad you took the time to come to us" she finished. She was worse than Carlisle-how on Earth could she be a demon of any kind? Pretty young girl that she was, with large eyes and a dimple. She looked so soft and warm...

"This is unbearable; I am _thirsty_!" someone droned from the kitchen and Esme's smile twisted off of her face into a tired expression.

"Uh... we made some potatoes" Carlisle said stepping forward

"I turned it into mash, dear" Esme said, touching his arm absently. They were perfection and I was mesmerised by them, they kept glancing at me to be sure I wasn't screaming or having a mental breakdown. They walked towards the left door slowly, cautiously-the door were the petulant hunger cry had come from.

"Maybe..." Carlisle stopped in front of it, blocking the way after Esme had entered "Uhm, you would like to enjoy the cool breeze by the Gazebo?"  
"Okay" I murmured. "Is it out back?"  
"Yes" Carlisle smiled "I'll enter through the kitchen door but you may have to go through the outside, you'll see it easily enough"  
"No problem" I said, backing out of the house.

So he wasn't about to brave the sun today, the kitchen was a no go area... but they still seemed okay with me around. Just precautions for the owner of the sulky male voice. I could deal. I was dealing. I hadn't made any friends yet but at least I was invited to a late lunch with vampires...

Xx~xx~xX

Their garden had evidence of work. A section was cut out into a square mass of dark earth and beside it, cubes of grass were stacked over each other. The land around was covered in the same twiggy parched grass as I had seen by the front of the house, and empty flower pots littered the edge.

I walked over the gravel that cut of the dry-lands of the back yard from the house. The gazebo was a looming hut figure in the distance, paint holding remnants of white and beautiful twirling weather covers hidden in wild vines. It was far off in the middle of the field-like-back-garden and I realised I would have to trudge through the Cullen's untamed garden.

"Where the hell would _Rosalie _have gone exploring too" I muttered, tripping once and then half-running and falling forward. "She was always in stiletto's!" I looked up and saw an expanse of the same miserable terrain pulling over every direction of the Cullen's land and in the distance was a thin blot of green lining the horizon and cutting the sad picture. That had to be the red wood forest.

I stood still for a second, staring at the distant forest and recalling my childhood home. How lovely the pine smelt in the rain and how menacing it turned when the rain became a storm. I felt something watching me suddenly, my back burned with the strange gaze. I turned my head slowly and right by the entrance of the barn, a giant grey wolf stood still and ominous-amber eyes piercing through me.

"Shit!" I yelped and sprung forward, trotting and tripping half the way towards the gazebo, turning around frantically-imaging the wolf leaping over the ground after me. I wasn't about to wait for it to do that, even though it had disappeared from the front of the barn all together. I fell once, rose from the ground and made another successful ten second sprint before falling down completely and feeling a sharp pain slicing into my leg.

I twisted to a sitting position, pushing my legs out and reached down to my leg but I didn't bother looking at it. I looked determinedly to my left instead, where the far off wolf had stood at the entrance of the barn. It wasn't there but I didn't remove my gaze from that place. My heart was shuddering and my vision blurring. I touched my face and the first thing I realised was that my glasses were not there. Then I realised my hand was wet with something and I had smeared this on my face and then when I braved a quick flick of my eyes on my hands... I saw dark crimson tainting my fingers.

"Shit!" I growled, watching in fear as the blood saturated my jeans, spreading through the fabric in a black stain. But my anger at myself for finding this the perfect opportunity to fall was short lived when I felt violent commotion far off in the distance in front of me, back at the house. The dust of the gravel by the house swirled, like a twister was launching from there and just as suddenly as weird animal growls were fleeting painfully from within that mass of dirt and dust swirling by the back of the house... the giant grey wolf reappeared. It looked at me once, something terribly intelligent lay in its eyes then it looked right over me, past the gazebo and up the long expanse of dry land. And in the next instance it bounded in that direction, right past me in a blur that knocked me back-growling and snarling.

I gulped once, thinking the madness had passed or was about to stabilize but in the next instance a sharp breaking sound came from the house and a red giant wolf _erupted _from the barn and sped to the commotion of dust (giant seemed too inadequate an adjective with the size of this beast). It whipped into the swirling dust and then was flung out by _something _then launched itself into the cyclone once more. Behind me, I heard distant yells and growls.

The red-brown wolf seemed to decide the swirling mass of dirt and violence was less important than my bleeding crying pathetic form, and it zapped towards me snarling so fearfully my stomach reeled with each of its quick vivid bounds. It was coming right me like a russet train with daggers for a bumper, it was going to scoop me up in its giant jaws... it was going to... jump right over me and rocket past the gazebo to the background snarls and yells?

"Oh, God... Oh God..." I was chanting, hauling my body over the rough ground a few feet towards the gazebo and then slumping forward when a sharp pain shot through my leg, and my thigh throbbed violently "Oh God!"  
I touched it and realised something was lodged inside. "Oh, God please...!"

I didn't need to understand what was going on; the yells behind me grew more violent by the second but they didn't terrify me as much as the sharp clear shout that belonged to Carlisle did.

"No, Nahuel!"

The darkness was at the edges of my vision, I was staring desperately at the desisting mass of dirt cloud by the house, and before I slipped into the safety of solitude... I saw an olive skinned angel, flying through the air like a spectre with his arms wide; open to embrace me, a lusty gleam in his dark eyes and lips twisted into a cruel grin.

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Man in the Mirror**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**LEAH CLEARWATER**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

I was displaced. A malevolent being had infiltrated my mind and cruelly shoved me out of my own body. My soul and heart were being abused under the control of this stranger. There was a match playing out in my life, a soccer match if you willed. And as I was outside my body, I had the displeasure and torment of watching my bumbling body move stiffly across the pitch, and my earthly and spiritual counter part was in the match too. Charles was there... and what was so bad about the whole game wasn't the fact that I was sitting on the side lines while my body was hijacked by something other... what was so bad about everything was the fact that Charles was not in my team. He wasn't even on the other team. He was the referee and I was winning no favour in him, bouncing and tiptoeing around him. He held the red and yellow card, and any moment-I would exit the whole game altogether.

I wasn't in my body, I didn't know the rules of the match and it was only a matter of time before I committed a foul.

_He is just going through stuff with Edward and Renesme._ Jacob tried. We were by our 'hang-out', to the left of the trimming of woods at the end of the large expanse dead farm, were the Cullen's had taken it upon them selves to grow _weeds_. The distance was enough that I could make out the house, barely nudging up in the distance and I could hear the distant sounds of _normalcy _moving over the land. Saccharine vampire pollen was everywhere...

Jacob was my only companion in this imprint madness-and he was coming out as the most inadequate of companions. He didn't know anything about imprinting past 'Second Hand Imprinting'; understanding the imprint through the wolf-link. But understanding it and living it were two different things. This wasn't like Claire or Emily...

_Isn't it?_ He challenged. _Are you going to sit there, with your tail between your legs and tell me you are exempted from that group because what? You are so special; Charles isn't human so your imprint is different?_

Was I being cocky about this because my imprint was more than a Quileute girl or half-vampire brat? Was I arrogantly wallowing in my own confusion, revelling in its uniqueness?

_Yeah, maybe just a smidge..._

_Black, I didn't ask you to come here and I don't think I appreciate the peanut commentary!_ I growled and he let out a wolf snort as only an irritating sixteen year old hormonal brat could manage. _You want to be Doctor Phil, huh? Well, lets talk about why Renesme and I were taking a bath together... in your dream last night?_

_Because you are both __**dirty**__ girls?_

I growled at him and he turned his massive head to the side, snorting out a series of laughs. I hadn't expected his frankness with the matter. In actuality, I was still in shock at dealing with this Jacob. It felt like Billy had put me on perpetual baby sitting duty...

_Oh come on, Charles is my age! _He whined. _ I give good advice sometimes!_

_Charles matured at ten, kid._ I snapped and he growled, hating being called kid and letting out a slew of 'alpha this and alpha that'. _Experience means everything; you should know Jake, I don't think anyone in La Push is comfortable with a juvenile Chief._

_Stop deflecting; we are talking about your issues not mine_. He sighed.

My issues... I couldn't even categorise them at this point. It was just Charles, Charles and more Charles. Charles wouldn't look me in the eye and it felt like a punch in the gut, Charles wouldn't look at me at all and it felt like my hand had been sawn off... Charles didn't want to be alone with me and I had just drunk a litre of poison...

_You can be such an idiot. _Jacob growled. _This isn't about you, you haven't done anything wrong and he isn't blaming you about anything. This is about Charles, only Charles... Edward is a preoccupation for him to keep away from facing whatever it is that's going on in his mind._

_I am his imprinter; I should know what is going on in his mind!_

_You probably do_, Jake sighed. _You probably just don't want to face that fact._

_There is nothing..._ I began but Jake tutted internally, quoting self denial as the worst sort of pride. Here I was getting counselling from a hormonal kid with an inappropriate thing for me.

_I am going to ignore that. _He grumbled.

Times were hard, it seems. And they were only getting worse. I didn't want to release some of the pain over the notion that Charles was truly going through something that I hadn't caused... it was so cowardly and I hated it. It was also cowardly for me to be so content to wallow in self misery like some sort of sparkling vamp or imprinted Jacob.

_Hey!_

I was more than that... I was built of other stuff, Sue had always told me this; the good stuff, the hard stuff. I had to half my time for whining and whimpering... I had to face this head on. I couldn't cover it up anymore; as much as I was the gardener in the parched garden and as much as he was that gorgeous bush with the exotic rose buds... and as much as I had been selfless in my tending of him and allowing everyone to watch him blossom and give him his own freedom to do just that...

It didn't mean he had grown the way I had been tending him to grow; he had risen of his own accord into a tree when I had wanted him to be a bush in my monotonous ambition...

_Now she gets it! _Jake laughed, but it was a half-hearted laugh. He hid the slight melancholy quickly and I didn't think I wanted to know... _He might have feelings for you._

_He doesn't._ I said automatically._ He had a girlfriend once, you know and then there was Tanya so..._

_So?_ Jake snorted. _Well, if it isn't him who has the feelings, then it's you..._

_I bathed him with his favourite ducky. _I said stubbornly and then cringed when that image of a splashing carefree Charles refused to attach itself to Robocop in the attic. I steered away from the two mismatched pieces quickly, trying to dispel the nauseating tingling the wide eyed toddler and the brooding man caused me.

_As much as you have been trying for the last seventeen years to go against this... it is stronger than you, Leah. You can't fight fate; you can either accept it or go through unnecessary pain in trying not to accept it and it will damn near kill you..._

_I choose death._

_At what cost, hmm? Charles..._

_How is this costing Charles?_

_Well, isn't he the Tin Man to Renesme's Wizard of Oz adventure? Isn't he the one searching for his heart...? _Jake said absently, his thoughts diverging to his curiosity with Renesme. It was nothing to do with her beauty or his little Shape Shifter wolf horniness currently irritating the shit out of me...

He didn't know her; he had never known her unlike the rest of us who he had woken up with some history already set. And the past few weeks after we had found her had been harrowing to his thoughts. There was a painting that he had provided colour to of her, Bella's daughter. And at times that painting came to life and she was everything his brothers had told him she was-Bronze Bitch who had inspired a legend of a lone broken russet wolf. And then there were times, when he felt her gaze on him and he swore it was a longing gaze-and when he looked at her, she jumped.

_She deserves what is happening to her_, he growled. _She is an idiot; who breaks an imprint?_

I thought about his little adventure with Edward back in Alaska and he cringed, begging me to move over the macabre image of his hairy self with wide half-emotionless eyes. The 'Old Jacob' as he was known, the one who had fought so hard against an imprint to save his son, to be there for his son...

_I don't understand any of it,_ He whispered almost in fear. _You think I don't know that I am the kid in all of this? Even she is older than I am... and she looks at me like I am supposed to understand some fact or react some way because she knows me... and I don't know her._

_Don't you worry about not knowing her, because _she_ doesn't know _her self_. When she came to me in Russia, to tell me she was pregnant and those months we spent in France waiting for Charles..._ I remembered the bitter sweet Renesme of France. The slightly likeable version with her round protruding stomach and blush._ I think that was the first and last time she had been more or less herself. I don't think she was ever herself in the past-not with the Cullen's and not with the Quileutes. Certainly not with the Swan's and sometimes I think she needed that, to go over to Charlie's for like a month and just be a human kid._

_You know I have no idea what the fuck you are talking about._

_Stop being stubborn, you can see into my mind. _I laughed. _I am trying to help you understand that the person you fear is more afraid of you Jake. There are things about her that I think you need to sort out with her, if you want to bother... I mean, you don't remember her, she doesn't really exist in any of your bonds... you can walk away from it all._

_And that's just what I want to do... walk away from it all; all her messed up glory. _Jake chuckled. _You know, you got me thinking..._

_Glad I could be of service._

_I need to ask Edward to do something for me, so I can truly walk away._ Jake sighed, getting up and shaking his knotted fur free of dust. _I am heading back to the house for a bit... will I find you here?_

_Where else would I go?_

_Right, brooding about Charles in the woods..._ he skipped and then broke into an even jog back to the house.

Xx~xx~xX

The joys of being a young sixteen year old boy without a care in the world... It hurt me that even a second time around, Jake wasn't about to get that. And Charles had had it for all too brief a time...

Self delusions... the worst sort of pride.

It was safer to tackle these things while Jake was on his mission to thoroughly free Renesme from his guilt prone mind, coward. Renesme, the broken porcelain doll with a heart that knew of only two extremes; intense love and acute hate, and of the two, I was certain she tended to confuse them for each other. She wanted to leave badly, she knew that Esme and Rose would ensure she was hounded and returned within the minute of her escape and that was the only reason she hadn't attempted anything as yet. I say let her go, you can only lead the bronze donkey to the river but it will only drink when it is good and ready... it was noble to take her away from all that mess, and if they hadn't done that, if the Cullen men had not been there... she would have stood zero chance against the werewolves. She would be a pile of dust instead of a broken porcelain doll. And Charles would have been... worse.

I don't even know when I started to notice that were I was heading with Charles was not as clear a path as intended; it was difficult to track it now that I had been covering it up for so long. Maybe it was when he walked in on me while I was taking a shower... it was more likely then than any other time.

He was standing there, without a shirt and for a split second I thought it was Jake (the mentally older, less irritating and broody Jake of that time). Of course, the thought that if it _was_ Jake I wouldn't have been so aware of the fact that I was naked-that thought only occurred to me _after_. In those days, those _Jake the Broken_ days... neither Jake nor I cared for the other's nakedness. He could have probably taken a piss while I showered and walked out and it would have been dandy all the way...

So the electricity that had jolted through me when 'Jake' stood so still watching me had been entirely confusing. And exhilarating... and I had thought for sure my imprint with Charles was fucked up but it had only lasted a second when I realised it was _Charles_ standing there. That relief had lasted a moment and then we were back to reality and that silly dangerous experience was immediately concealed by fear and shame at being seen...

I didn't care about my nakedness; hell, I stripped in front of Edward just to watch him squirm and laughed at how he would try and find something less _exposed _in our surroundings to glare upon. It wasn't the being seen part, it was the feeling I got when his eyes had been on me. Charles eyes...

All those imprint oddities weighed heavily on me. You barely noticed a good looking guy, you barely got horny... you barely had anything sexual related while imprinted to a kid. And then that one accidental stumbling in the shower and wham, bam...! Everything was forced, so many areas were suddenly tabooed and written in giant red letters and nothing could flow so freely.

A conversation had to have 'no-go area's', a play fight consisted of stiff movements and suddenly, so suddenly it felt like overnight, he was a man with a plan and advising _me_ on my life when I had been the one to pour his milk over his cornflakes. And it scared me how the wheezing asthmatic kid refused to connect with the serious Samurai wielding a katana and with crooked grin that was never at the ready, no matter how hard I tried to blend them in. It scared me that his kiss was still on my forehead...

And maybe in all his juvenile wisdom, Jake was right; this had nothing to do with how meticulous I had been when giving him his freedom and maybe I needed to stop feeling bad for all the hidden feelings and the fear. I had done all I could... because at the time I had been the one in control. And now, the ball was in his court, he was the referee to this match. If he wanted to be lodged with pieces of Edward, tormenting him self about _something_...

Then there really was nothing that I could do about that one fact.

But if Jacob was suggesting I walk away, then Jake was the delusional one. I would have to wait, until Charles conquered his internal battle and came to me.

Xx~xx~xX

I found him by the old peach tree. He was sitting underneath it thinking too hard and doing it in his human form, which was never a good sign. Of course, there was no luxury of just phasing and changing right there, like I would have been able to do with the _Old Jake_... so I had to walk about fifteen minutes to him after changing in the trees.

"What's eating you, oh mighty Alpha?" I sat down beside him and he huffed. "Us sitting like this, makes you miss First Beach, huh?"

"Yeah" he said absently "I asked him to tell her"  
"Renesme?" I peered at him. "You asked him to tell her you aren't imprinted on her?"  
"Yeah..." Jake said softly. "You know what bothers me the most about her?"  
"That she and I didn't get to make out in your dream because Nahuel called her to wipe his nose?"  
"Yeah, God I hate that Pony Tail Freak. But also... her eyes" he grumbled, pulling his legs to his chest with strong muscled arms "They are Bella's eyes"  
"Makes you feel sorry for her?" I asked him.  
"She looks at me..." he laughed hard and forced "And it's like she is really scared or something. Terrified even... like I am the monster in all of this! Those damned eyes that truly believed they were guiltless. Leah, Bella spat in my face when she told me she loved me and then went off and married Edward" Jake whispered "And then all Bella's choices got fucked up in this mystery future I am living, you know... Karma and all of that, and I never got a chance to do an 'I told you so' dance because I got wrapped up in all of her chaos too"  
I stared at his sulking form in shock.

"Fucking Imprinting Magic!" he spat "And the worst part is I have anger in me and I was so sure Renesme would be the one to be receive it, but I look into her eyes..."  
"Into Bella's eyes" I murmured absently, realising how entirely more fucked up Jake's situation was... once more...

"Yeah, Bells eyes..." he sighed "I look into that cold beautiful girls eyes and I think its going to be so much easier to hate her because I know she isn't as innocent as her eyes suggest. I think 'You are Bella and a Vampire'... you know, and I mean she fucked me around through the imprint didn't she? And she is sitting with that half-breed and surely the anger and violence should come to me?"  
"And it doesn't..." I whispered.

"And it _doesn't come_..." he said in a hollow tone "Well, I let her know it wasn't bothering me one bit! I can do what I want and how I want... whether her Pony Tail is around or not..." he scoffed. "And now she will know I don't care and she can stop flinching and looking at me all worried like. I don't give a damn!"

"You don't?"  
"I am not imprinted to her, remember Clearwater!" he tapped the side of his head hard and scowled at me "I don't care!"

"But you said you felt sorry for her?" I told him carefully. He was trying too hard, trying to redeem himself when he didn't even know who this old Jacob had been. Trying to prove he wasn't weak, or pathetic or something and it was all falling to shreds because Jacob Black wasn't capable of such cruelty... at least, not for extended periods of time.

"I feel..." he growled "Argh... just look at her! She is pathetic! The choice Renesme made has reduced her to nothing, I pity her. I _pity_ her patheticness!"  
"Is this rant for Renesme or is this for your lingering feelings for Isabella" I tried to keep my eyes on his violent expression, I tried to keep my voice steady as I pushed him forward "Is this you trying to right that one mistake you made so long ago with Bella, when you forgave her for breaking your heart and went to save her even though she was carrying _his_ child?"

"I told you I don't give a damn about Isabella!" Jake roared, rising violently from the ground and scowling hard at me. "Don't you listen, Clearwater? My father is dead, Isabella is one of the bad vampires and... And..."  
"And it broke your heart to find that out, Jake it's okay...!" I got up too, but he skipped two steps away when I reached a hand out to him. "Jacob, come on... you aren't alone? I am your Beta, remember?"

He wanted to cry. He was sixteen, orphaned and in the middle of shit he wasn't emotionally ready to understand. And being Jacob Black, he was trying to force it all to make sense and all it came up to was a mass of incomplete feelings...

"No, you aren't my anything and we need to get that straight" he looked me dead in the eye and gulped down, his red eyes narrowed "I am _alone_, and I get it now"

"Jake, come on...!" I called but he was already bounding away as a wolf.

Xx~xx~xX

I almost didn't follow him.

But we were in some godforsaken town in the middle of nowhere, I didn't have my original partner and he had never really truly _had_ a partner to begin with. So we had to stick this out and make sense of things.

_Jake come on! _I called after him, watching through his eyes as he stubbornly bounded into the barn, ignoring the human standing bewildered just ahead of him. _Jake, listen... you are __**not**__ alone. Even the Cullen's, they are your family... you know that..._

_I knew that, when I was the Old Jake-the one you liked and found less irritating! _Jacob growled. _The one who wasn't a virgin, the one who could make sense of everything! The one who was Charles' father..._

_Oh, come on, that old Jake wasn't that good a dad!  
I feel so much better, thank you Clearwater! _He laughed derisively, pacing the inside of the barn and waiting for me to arrive. He was upset and wanted to fight... I didn't have it in me, but if it made him feel better, maybe I could deliver _something_.

_Jacob, you were gone. You weren't human; you weren't a father or a brother... barely a friend. _I pushed a series of memories to him, empty mind filled with numbing despair, dark eyes seeing past an eleven year old Charles as he tried to get his dad to look at his Math mark; it all had to be laid out. Maybe Renesme and he were fucked up, but she had been there in her weird way, in those rare moments... and yes, he and I had been on the verge of something. But it was born out something desperate and where would the honour have been in that?

_And imprinting is honour?_

_Honour has no form Jake..._ I told him. I stopped, seeing the strange woman walking towards the gazebo. _Who is that?!  
Carlisle's new friend..._ Jake huffed. _He sent all the other vampires away; giving Edward and Renesme some privacy. I heard nothing about her, but I think it's the Angela woman. _

_The one Isabella made a pet?_

_Yep._ He grumbled.

The woman looked harassed. Sweat pants, baggy t-shirt and dirty white sneakers. Her dark hair had a few trails of grey in the back; she had probably never noticed this. She turned sharply, before I could join Jacob in the coolness of the barn and our eyes met. She was definitely tormented by Isabella; her face was slightly gaunt, like she had lost too much weight in a short period of time and her eyes had bags looming beneath them. Horned rimmed glasses graced her face and sealed any doubts that we had found the saddest creature in the Bella pandemic. Wide eyes blinked and she swore, skipping over the ground hurriedly and for a moment I was confused by her reaction.

_Dude, you are in your wolf form..._ Jake snorted. _But no worries, she knows Carlisle is a vamp, she will deal._

I took a step inside and felt Jake exist the wolf link. He was behind the pile of hay he used as a changing room.

"Aren't you going to change?" he asked but I was listening to her running and swearing over the garden terrain. In the next second I heard a thud and a low squelching sound and then she groaned. "What is it?" Jake asked, still behind the hay. He hadn't gotten around to putting his pants on.

"_Do you smell that?" _Nahuel asked someone from the house. I sniffed the air immediately and rust tainted the molecules, my head snapped to the right. Commotion broke out in the kitchen of the house, things breaking apart, Carlisle and Esme shouting and Edward yelled the magic words...

"_Charles!" _ He yelled and I unlocked, giving Jacob an indicative look before bounding out. I looked up at the house and saw Charles and Carlisle grappling with Nahuel, Esme was backing away from the blurring individuals-she wasn't in control. Renesme stood in the middle of a hole were the attic window should have been, staring longingly past me; at the injured woman-seemingly unaware of Nahuel's venomous snaps at Carlisle or that her son had just been whacked several feet into the side of the house. I held my breath but Charles got up from the rubble, snarling and growling in unadulterated ferocity. My heart unclenched.

"_Leah, stop Jasper and the rest, they haven't fed!" _Edward bellowed from somewhere behind Renesme _"That is more serious, Charles can handle and you know it...!"_

I didn't wait for him to finish, running ahead to the forest past the bleeding girl to the quartet of thirsty vampires speeding back home... feeling Jacob enter my mind link and run towards Charles. I begged him to make sure he was okay...

_He is fine, Leah_! He snapped, groaning how imprints were such a nuisance in places of violence. He went in head first and collided with Charles desperate grappling for Nahuel, Carlisle's half-hearted attempts but Jacob got knocked out by their chaos.

I saw them coming. Jasper was ahead, Alice calling him back desperately. Rosalie was shrieking for Jasper to stop, begging Emmett to stop his brother but Emmett was in a trance. I collided with Jasper, snarling and flinging myself around immediately before getting a grip of him between my jaws. He could have used his gift on me or bit me, but he didn't. They were being led by the monster within, but behind it all they didn't want to be monsters. I flung him in the air, he twisted and snarled at me as he went hurtling back but this gave me time to somehow slow Emmett down.

"Em, no!" Alice danced around him, tripping him and avoiding being shoved rudely out off his way. I connected with Emmett and he wound his arms around me and I froze in his grip.

_Leahhhhhh!_ Jacob howled, the memory of the New Born war weaving into his desperation to not harm Esme but keep her at bay-Angela had removed something from her leg and the blood was gushing out and filling the air like vinegary pollen.

Jacob stopped his help-attempts with Esme and headed towards me, ignoring my plea for him to remain there. Emmett was only gripping me; he seemed torn between flinging me to the side and crushing my ribs to dust. Alice and Rosalie were preoccupied with Jasper...

The moment Esme advanced forward, Carlisle released Nahuel and left him to Charles and to tend to his demented wife.

_No..._ I breathed as Renesme jumped out of the gauged window, Charles ignoring Nahuel in favour of his mother and Nahuel sped to the human.

"_No Nahuel!" _Carlisle cried but he got her, she was in his arms.

Xx~xx~xX

"Move back, Emmett...!" Rosalie commanded. He released me and took a stiff step back. Jacob growled at him, weaving in front of me with his large bushy tail flicking impatiently. He shook his head once, then looked pointedly behind them "Yes, we will go back... get to her"

They all zoomed backward silently and I shook the bruises of Emmett's grip free. I didn't give Jacob a chance to recognise my movements and bounded back to the house in full speed.

Xx~xx~xX

The scene playing out back at the house had twisted to something so gruesome, I faltered. There was blood everywhere, on the tips of the dried grass and spread out in a wicked red hue were the woman had been sitting. She wasn't there anymore but everyone else remained in uncontrolled spastic disarray. Carlisle was gripping Esme desperately; Mother Hen kept snapping and moaning to get away to the left, were I realised the human might be laying.

It was the scene in the middle that knocked the wind out of me; Renesme's hands gripping Nahuel's middle while Nahuel and Charles had a stand off.

"No, Nahuel, you can't. Stop...!" Renesme cried tugging him away frantically. He growled low, pried her hands off of him and slapped her across the face hard. Charles attacked, leaping in the air and I realised his left arm was dangling oddly. Charles was hit with a hard backhander from Nahuel and he went flying into the already dented brick work of the house. He went right through it and before I could make out if Charles was injured or not, I leapt at Nahuel in raw fury. We twisted together on the ground, his fingers adamantly gripping my fur, and when having four legs came out as a disadvantage on the ground, he rolled onto my back and heaved my head hard three times into the dirt, his knee digging mercilessly at the base of my neck and lights of pain popping into my vision and the taste of my own blood.

White pain flashed over my mind and through it I made out Jacob colliding with us and snapping Nahuel up in his mouth. I could taste Nahuel's blood seeping over Jacob's tongue from the wolf link. Jacob released Nahuel with a casual toss of his head and the half-vampire male rolled onto the ground moaning and groaning and filling the air with his blood. This didn't stop Nahuel though, he rose shakily and half-ran and skipped towards the hidden human woman that Esme was still so enthralled by, half-listening to Carlisle's placating and fighting his arms of her.

"No, stop him Jacob!" Carlisle cried and Jake went for him but this time Nahuel was prepared, and Nahuel deftly whacked Jacob clumsily, moving for the woman before Jacob's slight disorientation wore off. Nahuel picked her up with one hand, his body slumped oddly in his own upright stance and he held her in front of him by the neck.

"I suggest you stop, mutt" he growled to an advancing Jacob. "Renesme, come to me, now!"  
Renesme whimpered, her eyes dark and tortured. She looked to Carlisle, who shook his head for her not to go and then she looked at Jacob, who was only casting worried glances between the injured moaning woman and me. She took another step and whimpered, gulping down the thirst and a pained uncontrolled look gripped her.

"Charles, stay calm... don't let it control you!" Edward cried from up in the attic, his voice lost in the stillness of anticipation.

"Renesme, move your fucking lazy ass here!" Nahuel hissed, his other hand going to his middle were blood was seeping through "She is dying, get here and drink... and I heal and we leave now!"

Another step taken by Renesme, she looked up at the attic and then at Jacob-who didn't care to look at her. Renesme moaned again but this time, she stopped her movements and placed her feet adamantly on the ground, tears streaming down her face.

"No" she whispered, her lower lip quivering "I can't..."  
"Get over here!" Nahuel roared.

"I can't" Renesme breathed again, her hands twitching oddly "I won't... I won't... I wont hurt anyone else, Nahuel. I can't, I won't... not ever again"

A deep rumbling growl came from the rubble Charles had been flung into, and then Charles sauntered out. My relief that he was presently whole was short lived as I failed to connect with green eyes and met flat black ones instead. He tilted his head back in the air, his body half-crouched and sniffed deliberately, another menacing growl erupting from his chest, so resolutely inhuman that Nahuel stilled his shaking of Angela. I tried to call to him, to snap Charles out of whatever enchantment he had fallen under but all that came out of me was a whimper, my body stiff and numb to any instruction of movement. I could see the shimmer so clearly with my wolf eyes-running over his body like a haze over a hot road, but it was almost indistinguishable to Jacob.

_It's blue..._ I told him fearfully but Jacob was concerned for Angela, who was too still in Nahuel's easy grip. _He is blue around him, like a ghost... can't you see, Jacob?_

"Hmm, your foolish runt, Renesme?" Nahuel raised an eyebrow at Renesme. "Maybe I'll hurt him, eh?"Angela began to twitch sporadically, groaning in pain.

_Venom kicking in..._ Jacob and I thought in unison. Nahuel put his mouth back on Angela's open wounded neck and sucked hard. Charles sniffed the air once more, a low pleasured sound escaping his lips and he rushed towards Nahuel, past a startled Renesme-nothing but growls and a violent heart beat.

_No..._! I roared but my limbs were paralyzed, the wound on the back of my neck, just bellow my head sending scorching pain to my mind.

Nahuel dropped the woman in shock, staring at Charles in confusion as the man-my imprint-collided with him and scooped him in his arms before latching his mouth to Nahuel's neck. They writhed desperately, Nahuel calling out to his confused Nessie while we all stared on in a moment of shock. Nahuel found himself fighting to be released, snarling and twisting and breaking Charles bones but Charles kept him in his arms regardless. Charles was beyond feeling pain, I realised. He shimmered into a blurring bronze tint, through the odd blue hue and solidified once more, never releasing Nahuel.

Carlisle released Esme gingerly, glancing at Charles and Nahuel and then rushing to rescue Angela. I tried to get up once more, I willed myself to change but nothing worked. I could feel nothing except the dread of my imprint in a vampire's clutches-regardless of whether he had run to the embrace or not. Nahuel snapped his teeth and twisted in Charles grip-he was still stronger, as a half vampire and he soon returned the bite to the neck. I gasped, my eyes widening as they both fought for dominance to drink from each other-as though they were both drug addicts and the fix was in their veins. The moment Nahuel pierced Charles skin clumsily, Edward groaned low from the house, Carlisle swore and slowed his rushing to the house with Angela in his arms, and turned his head to stare hungrily at the two part vampire beings drinking from each other.

_Edward, do something! _ I cried futilely but Edward's response was something between a pained hungry cry and a sorrowful one. Charles gulped and sucked and groaned by Nahuel's neck. It was Renesme who gasped in understanding and called out to her grandfather to take the human woman into the house quickly. Carlisle snapped out of his daze with great difficulty but he managed to disappear into the house, and Renesme intercepted Esme quickly.

She ran to her grandmother, holding her in her arms momentarily but it lasted seconds as Esme pulled back and rammed Renesme's face with a hard cold closed fist. Jacob skipped in Esme's path as she blurred towards Nahuel and Charles, and Renesme rose from the ground shakily with a trickle of blood oozing from her nose. Jacob and Renesme circled and herded a crazed Esme back, steering her to the back of the house with a series of growls, snarls and hisses respectively.

Esme gave Nahuel and Charles one longing look, her demented thirst momentarily confused by a quick understanding of her reality and she then ran off to the trees.

"Charles, no...!" Renesme cried as she rushed back to her son and Nahuel, only to be met by an absent backhander from Nahuel and struck deftly away. "Jacob, Jacob!" Renesme cried, pulling at her hair.

Jacob rushed towards the two men's embrace, ramming through them and separating their frenzied feeding. Nahuel groaned, wobbling upright and stumbling three steps forward with his hand reaching out for Charles. Charles growled and snapped at Jacob and behind them Nahuel collapsed in a heap, his blood still flowing freely and seeping into the dirt. Charles stood upright momentarily, then swaying like a drunk man a few steps towards a barricading Jacob and wiping his smeared face clumsily-spreading deep crimson over his jaw and chin. Nahuel groaned and twitched by the ground and Charles made a deliberate step towards him. Jacob growled low at Charles and Charles hissed back, his whole form thrumming. Charles feigned left and right, but Jacob intercepted him.

_Jake?!_ I cried into his mind, but it was closed off. All I could see were images, Charles dark black stones staring indifferently at him-at me.

"Charles, please..." Renesme tried softly, crouched by Nahuel and surveying the damage across the half-vampire's torso from Jake's teeth. I squinted at Charles and made out that his wounds had healed. The edges of my conscious were blurring and I realised with mild concern that my spine had been crushed at the base of my neck and I was possibly healing around that paralysing damage.

"Get out of my way!" Charles growled, his voice was changed, warped in preternatural baritone. Jacob only growled in response and bared his teeth "Let me... let me... I have been _so_ thirsty!"

"Charles?" Renesme cried rising up "You have to be strong, you have to calm down...!"  
"Argh!" Charles pulled at his hair and then moved forward, taking a swipe at Jacob and then dancing back when Jacob's jaws snapped at him in warning.

"You can't feed from him, Charles... it isn't right... you can't, it's wrong!" Renesme moaned, glancing at Nahuel in mild worry of her mate. "Charles? Venom is bad for you... Nahuel has venom, you can't and venom is poisonous to wolves, do you hear me...?!"

"Let me at him!" Charles roared in response, demented and blurring. He swung at Jacob, who knocked him down with a wolf head butt. And then Charles rose up from the ground again, hurling swear words and blurring with more energy. He whacked Jacob across the muzzle but Jacob didn't budge. Charles glanced at me momentarily, slight recognition in his eyes but then he stared longingly at a frozen bleeding Nahuel and resumed his forward attack.

Charles was thrown to the ground, rose up and was brought back down by Jacob. "Get the fuck out of my way!"Charles charged, this time the shimmering and blurring turned him into something indiscernible and when he collided with Jacob and was thrown of him, he landed a mass of light bronze fur.

_Give him to me! _The voice boomed in an unfeeling mechanical resonance in my mind and I flinched-something about it reminded me so entirely of Sam's edict tone. I felt the hunger, I felt the thirst and my throat came alive with sadistic dehydration. He wasn't concerned with the human, he wasn't concerned with Renesme... it was Nahuel. Nahuel's blood was something so decadent it could not be ignored. He was panting, thirsty beyond understanding and his own heart had turned into a formidable distraction-but then there it was, not only was his heart a distraction... all our hearts were temptations of the highest magnitude, but he knew behind his craze, that Nahuel could be sacrificed. And what he tasted in Nahuel, he could never hope of getting anywhere else...

Charles rose up clumsily, vaguely aware that he was on four feet. He ignored the burning that was dripping from his mind into Jacob's and I's link. I tried to call out to him but his thoughts began to cloud; barriers rising up formidably against the wolf link. He charged at Jacob and they snapped at each other, Charles sinking his teeth into Jacob's front leg and Jacob gripping Charles back viciously, tearing flesh and swinging him back a few feet. Charles rose again, past reasoning and charged.

_He wont stop Jake. _ I realised. _He wont ever tire, like his running on limitless fuel, like he is running on... venom?_

"Stop him, Jacob!" Renesme read my mind "Do it!"

**STOP!** Jake roared and Charles skidded to a stop, his legs locking and the abruptness causing him to topple over. He phased, panting and groaning on the ground but not moving.

"Charles!" Renesme cried and she ran to him-past a paralyzed Nahuel, whose eyes were still very much alert to his surroundings and swivelled as they watched Renesme skip over him and come to a stop by her son. She picked Charles up carefully in her arms, comically carrying him bridal-style and then looked to Jacob. "Where should I take him" she bubbled and then looked at the house. "The woman is in there... and her blood..."

Jacob cocked his head to the barn, which had somehow survived everything. She cast him one loaded look and zoomed into the barn, cooing over her moaning son.

_Get Carlisle. _ I told Jake, letting my head fall on the earth heavily and letting out a series of breathes I had been adamantly holding. _My spine is definitely ruined._

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**RENESME**

"Shhhh" I stilled Charles insistent twitching against invisible bonds, wiping his arms with the damp cloth. He was begging me for _it_, for _him_-for _Nahuel_. His skin was on fire, burning and glistening and his eyes were shining emerald stones-catching light in our darkness, too sparkling to be anything human; like round crystals tinted with green, with glowing centres. He couldn't move, he wasn't _allowed_ to move because it was obvious exactly were he would go. Jacob had once told me that he would never _ever_ strip a wolf of its free will... one of those little rules one puts over their mind and heart so that they maintain a good opinion of ones self, I suppose... And again, in my selfishness, I had asked him to break such a rule.

It didn't really matter, I guess-feeling guilty about it, or not. He didn't know me; he didn't know what was inside me, deep down after the selfishness and the tantrums... the part of me that always wanted him to remain as human as he could. Before it had been such a difficult thing to ask, and I had to bribe him with Charles... stay human, Jacob-stay human for me, for Charles.

"Is he..." Leah rasped on the other bed adjacent to Charles bed. She lifted her head up with difficulty, gulping down pain and the lulling effect of morphine, her large eyes looking into my own, imploring me "Is he okay?"  
"No injuries" I told her softly, dipping the towel back into the ice water and then wringing it free of liquid and placing it on Charles forehead. "The gash on his neck is healing slowly-but it will probably be nothing but a feint scar by tomorrow"  
"I thought venom wounds took forever" Leah rasped, smiling beside herself. This was all she needed to know about her imprint at this stage, that he was healing.

"They do" I told her "They should take human-length to heal... but I am not complaining if you aren't?"  
"Not complaining" she breathed with difficulty, her head falling back on the large pillow heavily. She closed her eyes and grimaced "Charles?"

"Leah..." Charles groaned "Get him for me, I need it..."  
"Shhhh" I took the razorblade out of the shaving kit and placed it carefully on my lap, rubbing some shaving cream over Charles jaw "You are going to be okay, baby"

"I just need..." Charles rasped and a quick glance over to Leah made me witness something I thought I would never see. Leah was silent in her paralysis, two glistening liquid trails running down her cheeks.

"Charles, rest" Leah commanded and Charles groaned, his eyes rolling back-incandescent emerald things that had terrified me briefly-a moment that had rolled over the expanse of my future, I was sure. Such eyes were haunting.

"You should rest too" I smiled at Leah and she peeked at me, smiling softly back. "Tomorrow, Carlisle is _breaking_ bones"

"I look forward to it" Leah said dangerously, a wicked smile playing on her full lips "So I can get up and tear your _Nahuel _to pieces"

"Won't it be enough to send him on his way?" I asked softly. I shaved one side of Charles face, dipped the blade in the dish filled with water and wiped his chin free of the suds with the towel. She didn't reply, her heart thrumming much more softly-steadily-and the dripping liquid of morphine echoing each beat. She was out cold.

Charles eyes moved under the lavender eyelids, his whole colour had turned too pale and skin much too hard, much too hot. I shaved the other side of his face much faster, still being as careful as though his skin would yield under the blade. I could hear Jacob's feet move from the house towards the barn, his changed gait. Something about it conveyed a sort of recklessness that only came with youth. A young immortal...

I was instantaneously nervous as he walked into the barn, listening intently as he closed the large door, as he sighed and took in a steady breath and walked carefully over towards me-no, towards Leah. He went around, never looking at me and trailed a finger over the expanse of Leah's unfeeling arm until it came to rest on her shoulder.

"She is asleep" I said hoarsely. He frowned in response. "I upped her dosage, a nerve wasn't fitting into place when I cleaned the wound and she wasn't able to heal around it so it was giving her pain..." I blabbered and he cast hard eyes on my face. I gulped, I could feel my face slacken in confusion and then I tried again. I was certain I would say _something_ that was _the right thing _to say...

"Carlisle is going to have to break her bones" I said too loudly, almost shouting with nervousness "I told her so... she knows because I ... erm, told her" I paused in confusion and finished lamely "So she knows"

"What happened today?" Jacob asked, ignoring everything I had said. He sat beside Leah, adjusted her pillow and kept his eyes on her.

"I don't know" I whispered, holding the towel absently over Charles for a moment, watching in pained hypnosis as he studied Leah's face.

"Come on, aren't you supposed to be some freaky hybrid with superior intellect?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow but sparing me a glare in favour of giving Leah something entirely unrefined from his eyes.

I looked at a sleeping pale Charles, more beautiful than anything I had ever seen, and smelling almost as sinful as his grandiose exquisiteness. My angel... "I don't know, Jacob... you are the one who has just come from talking to Papa and Carlisle?"  
"They are still jabbering in 'high speech'" Jacob sneered "Can't understand a damned thing except for the occasional 'and' and 'maybe' and then the rest is too verbose for a dumb wolf like me"  
"You aren't dumb"  
"What happened today, Renesme" he said quickly, impatiently. He raised two fingers and touched Leah's hair and I gulped, touching Charles hair in a similar manner and watching as his fingers got lost in her dark hair.

"I think..." I began and he scoffed derisively.

"You better keep it simple, I better understand it the first time around" he said threateningly.

"Well, what I think is that Angela hurt herself and..."  
"And Nahuel's true colours came out full blast, yours as well..." he helped and I paused in shock "You weren't in control, Renesme..."  
"I was trying..." I whispered. "I was trying so hard..."  
"So Nahuel went crazy" he pushed forward rudely.

"Yes and well... Carlisle is as strong as he is, but poor Esme..." I remembered that moment when I had jumped down from the attic so vividly, it hurt. I was going to go for her, for the human-no, for Angela_..._ and Charles stopped me.

"Let's fast forward..." he finally looked at me, cold hard earth orbs narrowed beneath thick brows and a sarcastic sneer on his mouth "To the part were Charles attacked Nahuel and decided to turn into a vampire?"

"Your guess is as good as mine"  
"I doubt it, Renesme" he growled "I haven't ever wanted to drink blood... and you must understand how disturbing it was for me to be hit full force with such a feeling?"

"You felt it?"

"Yeah and it wasn't pretty" Jacob muttered glancing at Leah and then giving Charles a serious look. I immediately put an arm around Charles head. He caught this and looked at me with a neutral expression "Do you think I would hurt him?"  
"What?" I asked.

"Charles..." he stated "Do you think I would hurt him?"  
"You bit his back" I whispered.

"You asked me to stop him, and I did" he said carefully "Answer me?"  
"Yes, I do think you are capable of hurting him" I said softly "Because you don't know him and he is mine"

"He isn't yours alone"  
"Tell me you think of him as a son" I asked "Tell me when you look at him, he makes you want to stay human"  
"What are you on about?" he frowned now and then got up slowly, smoothing Leah's sheet and then came round and sat opposite me by Charles side. "I am going to tell you exactly what I think of Charles. He is my brother... he is my friend... is he my son? Well, I don't remember him as a kid, but I have a picture of him and Leah in my wallet"

"Of course" I whispered. "People always keep the most important things to them in their wallet, the most immediately important things anyway"  
"Yes, they do" he said evenly, holding my gaze till I had to look away. I picked up Esme's brush from the little rickety table and brushed Charles hair carefully. It was much too long so suddenly, almost the same length as Leah's long bob.

"I thought he had reddish brown hair, like Edward" Jacob said after a moment.

"Like me" I whispered "He is hair is like mine"  
"Like Edward's" Jacob repeated and I saw him grin impishly from the corner of my eye.

"What happened today?" he asked again and I gulped. I realised I had tears stinging the corners of my eye. He was watching me intensely, as though I was some over done piece of artwork, not necessarily beautiful... just exaggerated to the point of ghastly interesting.

"I don't know" I said.

"Come on, try"

"He tried to hurt my baby" I whispered, trying to brush Charles hair so he could have a side parting. His hair was too thick, too lustrous and too dark. When I moved it one way, and it caught the pathetic light of the single candle-I could see bronze in it, finally.

"He didn't try, Renesme..." Jacob said looking back at Leah briefly "He _did_. He broke Charles arm, cracked three ribs and flung him through a kitchen and not to mention feeding on him"

"And then he hurt Papa's friend" I murmured and his face twisted violently, he pursed his lips to control the anger threatening to spill out.

"You aren't some innocent victim of fate" he said evenly and I shuddered at the hidden hate in his tone. "Look, I am not out to make you hurt for hurting me"

"But you flaunt your feelings for Leah in front of me!?" I sneered and a tear fell. I wiped it quickly, too fast for him to make out the movement "You know Charles is aware of them-your _feelings_"  
"No he doesn't...!" He began and then he stopped abruptly, probably realising he had just ruined any denial he could ever plan on giving. "_Anyway_, it isn't flaunting... you love that lousy excuse of a being so what the fuck is your issue?"

"Only you and I knew what was going on in our imprint" I whispered "Only you and I knew our hell and now I am all alone with the knowledge?!"  
"That _me_ you are talking about, he isn't here right now so stop that! Get over it, you love Nahuel and that's that! I am not responsible for you or anyone!"

"Love... such a warped thing-to love someone who would hurt you so thoroughly" I sighed, stroking Charles sharp jaw "Charles wants Leah to be happy, even if it will hurt him and possibly her-but he sees some form of happiness at the end of this hurt. I wanted you and Charles to be safe from my mistakes... even if it would hurt you both, even if it would hurt us all"  
"Whatever" He scowled. "He isn't like you"

"That is a compliment to us both" I sighed "Any apology I had ever hoped to give, I shall never be able to give, shall I? You don't care for it all, do you? Nothing I say will ever be of value to you, will it?"  
"It all doesn't fucking matter..." He spat, laying his hand next to Charles briefly and scowling at the too intense difference in shade-burning russet and drowning caramel "I don't know you and we are both free, you see"

"You don't know me!" I laughed hysterically "Of course you do... I am sure they bombarded you with every memory of me-and how selective their memories would have been! Renesme, the she-devil who ran from you for a vampire and left a son so coldly!"  
"Let it go!" he hissed "And don't even dare cry!"

"I don't cry for you or Nahuel anymore" I snarled, the tears blurring my vision "I cry for him" I touched Charles cheek. Jacob was watching me closely, lost between hate and anger-but they were two of the same things, in a wolf.

"I know what you think of me, Jacob Black... that I am my mother's daughter and I deserve this pain. And you know what, I agree fully. I never deserved you and I never deserved Charles... but here Charles remains. If I didn't have my boy and that idiot paralysed in the house was all I had... I would be dead by now. Dead from my own doing" I said fluidly

"I don't feel anything for you" he said hoarsely

"Did I ask you if you felt anything?" I laughed sardonically and he flinched. "I am as good as dead to you, and you are as good as a spectre haunting me for eternity now. Do you really want to know who I am?"  
"I know you are about to tell me"  
"I am Isabella's living sacrifice to God for all her sins" I whispered in reverence of this fact, terrifying myself thoroughly "Every sin my mother has ever committed, it is I that has to walk on this earth repenting for it. And it doesn't end there, not only do I have Isabella's sins... I have my own. God is punishing me, for leaving you when I was younger before I was pregnant with Charles and then after when we had Charles and you wouldn't sleep with me... when I cheated on you against our marriage vows. This is the punishment; having you _never_ remember me"

"You are living pain, Renesme" he whispered "And I thank God I don't remember being the old Jacob because being tied up in such vomit as is your fucking life, would stink"

It hurt when he told me this, it hurt so badly but I was still recovering from my confession that the tears to his words only came much later. I ignored him then and hummed my old lullaby, written for me by Papa-to Charles. Jacob got up and walked over to the entrance of the barn, lost in his thoughts and absently rubbing a violent scar on his arm.

"Edward said Charles blood is near impossible to resist" he said after a second, turning his head towards me but not looking at me-staring out to the garden under the big glowing moon. It was nothing but ash outside, a fire had been set loose over the lands to burn Angela's blood and had as a result raged over the dry lands. It looked like we had all decided to clean up the yard instead of the crazed blood brawl that had erupted.

"Carlisle will analyse Charles blood tomorrow" Jacob said after I didn't reply him "Figure out why Nahuel got paralysed from drinking it"

"Hmm" I managed.

"Look, after feeling it from Charles..." he said with difficulty "Feeling the _thirst, _I sort of get it. I get that... you aren't a witch, not really"  
"I feel so much better" I growled. "Now, I can die in peace"

"I mean, you carried him _bleeding_..." Jacob said, almost to himself "Your son... your only one"

"Our son" I whispered. He pretended not to hear me.

"Everyone else has decided to begin patrolling; something about being a danger to each other made us realise that the outside world could be just as big a threat"

"How is Angela?" I asked him.

"Weak" he said "Lost a lot of blood, most of it from Carlisle getting the venom out, in fact"

"As long as she is healing"

"As long as Leah and Charles are healing too" Jacob added. "Then I think I am fine"

He stood quietly by the entrance after that, scowling now and again and heaving a hard sigh. It was funny witnessing him like this, watching him hurting over something that had nothing to do with me. It made me realise that after the hurt he felt-that I had no part in-there would be joy, and that too, I would have no part in. It was a heartbreaking realisation to what I was forfeiting through this dead imprint.

But what broke my heart was, unlike me... who had the Cullen's standing with me, my family, judgmental and severely loving as they were, but my family for eternity; Jacob had only Leah and Charles tethering him to an eternal life. Billy was gone, Rachel and Rebecca would follow soon... and if his connection with our son was something merely brotherly, and if his feelings for Leah were doomed before he could ever hope of having them developed...

He could leave me-us, all of us. He could leave this world and go wandering into their spiritual world forever.

"I thought we agreed you were to stop crying?" he said startling me.

"Leave me alone" I said moistly, wiping the tears violently away so my cheek smarted

"Gladly" he scoffed, and he removed his shirt and tossed it in the corner and disappeared into the night before saying something that sounded like 'goodnight, Bells'. I couldn't be sure, I didn't want to be sure. And in the hour, I disregarded it completely, and settled myself to silent mourning for someone dear to my heart that had died.

**REMEMBER TO REVIEW YOUR THOUGHTS ON THINGS.**


	6. Chapter 6

**THE BABY SITTER'S CLUB**

There is nothing quite like waking up to the sweet lull of medicine.

The first thing she noticed was how sore her eyes felt, how difficult it was for her to open her eyelids and after a few seconds of straining to keep them open, they slammed back down shut. She settled for narrowing them to slits, noting that her surroundings were a warm fuzzy blend of oranges, whites and umber. She took all of this in with a breath of relief; she needed warm instead of dark and cold. She could make out soft dust moving through a patch of bright light-gossamer air sheet, and above her the ceiling was a series of wooden beams with panelling between them.

One swallow and her throat protested to the action-crying in a raw ache. She pushed past the numbness of her medicine and realised her tongue was nothing but an aching piece of flesh that didn't seem to register much, as though it was drunk.

Angela pushed her tongue to the left side of her mouth and groaned internally when she couldn't tell whether she had performed the action or not-her tongue was definitely drunk. The whole left side of her face, in fact, felt slack and rubbery. An unpleasant sensation that had a sick ache to it, her lips felt large and swollen-but only on her left side once more. She raised her hand heavily, it fell back down. She forced it up once more and saw a white cast around it, covering the whole length down to her elbow and only freeing four fingers. Her thumb was held prisoner inside. She frowned at it-at her hand-and twitched her four fingers. Only two moved, the rest were still asleep and she decided to worry about waking them up later.

With her dressed hand, she touched her face with the two functioning fingers. It felt raw and bruised, like someone had put her head in the spin cycle of a washing machine. She couldn't tell whether her fingers couldn't feel the left side of her face or that the left side of her face couldn't feel her fingers.

"Whrrr..." she tried to call out 'Where am I', but her tongue was limp and her lips were not aware that they had been commanded to shape words.

"You are in the attic" a clear musical voice spoke "You are in Carlisle's house, in the attic and safe" it clarified and she groaned, dropping her hand heavily beside her sore body. The clumsy action sent an ache jolting up her spine.

She closed her eyes and Angela tried to remember everything; there had been an olive toned angel and the lovely Doctor Cullen-but there was nothing sweetly lovely about him, as she remembered peeking up at Carlisle through the burning of her body, gazing briefly at his face as he carried her away from her unfortunate predicament... he had been staring far off, with such a hunger as she had never seen that she had been certain, for that singular moment before the loss of blood and that horrific burning had captured her conscious-she had been certain he would chuck her indifferently to the side and go to whatever had beckoned his blackened eyes.

She shuddered violently at the memory, her voice catching in her tender throat and a sob getting lodged with it.

"You are safe, Angela" the soothing voice whispered. "What happened was unfortunate, but you are safe. I assure you"

"Ngggh" 'Who are you', she wanted to ask, she wanted to ask if she was dead and if Carlisle had been harmed too.

"You are safe, Carlisle has gone out to the barn to tend to... something and it's Edward" the voice said. She made to laugh at the absurdity that Edward Cullen would be the voice of her conscious in this current state, but what came out off her was a snort.

"It really is Edward" the voice said, sounding strangely disappointed that she would think it wasn't.

Maybe I should have stayed in Forks..., Angela thought.

"Maybe..." the voice agreed.

No, this was better than Bella, any day-was Angela Weber's last mental sentence before she slipped away, remembering a time when Isabella Swan had taken an envelope and proceeded to give her numerous paper cuts on her left index finger to illustrate some story or other about her botched birthday at the Cullen Manor.

Xx~xx~xX

When she wakes up the second time around, she is surprised by the fact that she had fallen back asleep-and is certain she has slept a day or two. She is a little more lucid but the pain is more concentrated, and she takes relief in the fact that her muscles have woken up with her at least. She pushes her legs out, and flexes her shoulder before-with a heavy loud groan-she pulls herself into a sitting position on the bed.

She is panting from the single movement, and realises with mortification that her right leg is in a plaster too. This plaster is dressed in a bright purple secondary cover that lets her know she is allowed to walk at least. She slowly nudges her body to the edge of the bed and sighs in relief when she sees that the bed is not too high and she can slide herself carefully to an upright position. It takes a few movements, but she gets there and when her feet reach the wooden floor, she smiles.

She sways only slightly as she walks over to the giant round window, easily taller than she is and just as awkward in its position on the wall. The whole room is set in rustic antiqueness but the window looks relatively new. She touches the smooth white frame of the window and brings her nose to it; it's recently been painted, the toxic smell of paint is still fresh on it. She stands back and surveys the strange large window in a room with a very low ceiling; it's a pretty window, even in its awkwardness and has lovely stained glasses in each segmented pane, with an impress of a light pink rose. She studies the rose for a moment, and then her eyes focus out-she can see the gazebo in the distant.

"Carlisle saved me" she whispers in reverence. She feels like she has been run over by truck; her body ached all over, limbs creaking with every slight movement, suggesting she had been immobile for some time.

"A week" a clear voice rings in the air and she freezes. It's coming from somewhere behind her "You have been immobile for a week"  
"Where are you Edward?" she asks softly, barely turning her head. "Are you in my head?"

"Yes, but I am also on the couch" he says in an odd tone. She recapped her 'awakening'; she had seen the couch, it was adjacent to her bed and on it she had seen cushions and something covered by a sheet. But it had been much too small to be anything of consequence.

"What happened" she asked, turning around and peering into the shadowy corners, disregarding Edward's statement of being on the couch and choosing not to get lost in the one were he confirmed to being in her head. She was frightened, but it was a vague sort of fear-she wasn't really interested on the details of what happened, per say.

"You don't have to know the detail if you don't want to" Edward's voice guessed her dilemma "Do you want the watered down version?"

She remained silent-a chaos of emotions working through her; she was angry; she was terrified and relieved to be standing inside the Cullen world. This world Carlisle had warned her of, the world Isabella had poisoned her mind with and the world she had lusted secretly for in her youth.

"Tell me the part on why I am still standing here" Angela exacted rigidly.

"Carlisle took you from the scene of the danger" he said. "There was a distraction..."  
"Okay, that is a bit _too_ watered down" Angela chuckled morosely, still peering into every hazy shadow for Edward and frowning when he wasn't there.

"_Someone_ had a billion times more powerful pull to _your_ danger that rendered your bleeding as distracting as a falling leaf in autumn"

"What?" she frowned at the room.

"I am on the couch Angela" Edward sighed and she hobbled back to the bed, sat down and looked at the couch with a frown. "You aren't on the couch!"  
"Under the blanket" Edward whispered.

She reached forward slowly, her two feeling fingers ruffling the textured earth toned sheet until they hooked over the fabric and she hesitantly tugged the sheet down. "Oh my!" Angela jumped back so quickly, with so much shock and horror that the immediate throbbing of her limbs was ignored. She pulled her legs to her chest with her cast-arm and stared at the upper torso of a man lying motionless on the couch.

"So nice to see you, Angela" Edward Cullen said to her, through what seemed to be a smile pulling difficultly on his marred face in a series of frustrated spasms.

Xx~xx~xX

She didn't know how long she stared at him-in that way you stare at something gruesome or revolting, even though it makes your stomach churn and mind blur; you keep your eyes on it until every detail is lodged in your memory. She made out his eyes, they were dark. She didn't like this fact as a result of understanding that a vampire with dark eyes was not a good thing. The sheet fell to his chest, thankfully, and she was spared the obvious shape of his limbless body.

"This happened when I went to save my daughter" Edward said with that same difficult smile that worked on what she guessed was a rendered nerve in his face and made his cheek twitch.

"A vampire did this?"  
"No, a werewolf" he said soberly "A _lot_ of them"  
"I saw them outside, I saw two of them in fact...!" she began, pointing behind her at the giant round window looking out to the gazebo and just showing the off-left barn.

"No, those were not Werewolves" Edward did his handicapped smiling "Those are what are known as _Shapeshifters_"

"Right" she nodded, dropping her pointing hand-although she didn't understand him, she remained silent.

"The grey one is named Leah Clearwater and the giant red one is Jacob Black" Edward continued and then in a more hopeful tone "You do remember Jacob Black, don't you?"  
"The name rings a bell" Angela lied.

"In high school?" Edward pressed, seemingly unbothered by her inability to look at him after initially staring rudely at him. "He was... erm, vying for Bella"  
"It's okay if you don't remember him" Edward sighed after she scowled at the mention of Isabella's name.

"So he is an actual _person?_" Angela asked, releasing her legs after a moment and stretching them out on the bed.

"Yes, on occasion" Edward said in a humoured tone.

"Right" Angela said again, still not comprehending anything entirely but opting not to bother. "And you are somehow alive although you don't have arms and feet. And I am here... alive too"  
"Alive..." Edward said thoughtfully "That is what matters"

"Sometimes it isn't" Angela sighed, peeking at Edward. He was staring at the ceiling. "Sometimes death is all that counts"  
"Then why were you begging to be saved when the burning began?" Edward asked-in a neutral tone that kept the question inoffensive. She knew exactly what he was talking about, because she remembered her pathetic pleading to live with such clarity, she might as well have been chanting it only seconds ago.

"Because I knew what was happening to some degree" Angela said firmly "I knew that I had been bitten and that the burning was the fires of hell turning me into a demon"  
"And yet you think of Carlisle as an Angel?" Edward asked in a conversational manner "And Nahuel, who was going to either be your grim reaper or Satan to your demon form-you thought of him as Angel too?"  
"Na... Who?"

"The man who fed from you" Edward said and then said softly, pained "I am so sorry about that Angela" Angela stared at the giant window a few feet from them, with its brand new paint and intricately stained glasses-silently and intensely. She ignored Edward's apology-like she hadn't cared for Carlisle's apology for Isabella. They couldn't count themselves guilty by association of species, she thought. There was something she was beginning to understand about her involvement with _everything; _it was something hard for her to admit but she couldn't walk away from it. Not just yet at least because there was vengeance in her heart and it was making her brave enough to remain sane in _their _world.

"I think of him that way..." she finally began to answer the distant question and then froze, frowning "How do you know what I am thinking of anyway!?"  
"I read minds" Edward said casually "Answer me, please?"  
"If you read minds, then just _pick it_ from my mind!" Angela laughed, leaning back on the bed and wondering what her sixteen year old self would think of her at this very moment.

"It isn't the same to just pick things from some ones mind and have them give you their verbal version" Edward said smiling "And your sixteen year old self would have asked you to attend her bible study class with hopes of saving you from your obvious drug influenced ranting on demons, vampires and 'Ken's talking upper body'"

She stared at him, the analogy he had picked from her mind shaming her but she moved through it. Dwelling was not her strong point.

"I am going to pretend I am Alice and this is Wonderland" Angela sighed closing her eyes "Because I am considering jumping out off that silly round window right now"

"I am afraid we already have an Alice in our Wonderland" Edward chuckled "Why did you think of Nahuel as an angel?"

"Well, I thought of Na-well..." she twisted her lips on the pronunciation but Edward didn't correct her, so she continued a little more confidently "I only thought he was an angel because he was beautiful and it was as simple as that; with Carlisle, I am _certain_ he is an angel because his very aura is love and selflessness"  
"Well, you are marginally wrong. We are all... creatures of damnation" Edward said dryly, looking away from her "And those of us who are attached to some human semblance, we are more so damned because we pretend to contain souls"  
"I don't understand?" Angela breathed but then the trap door, right behind the bed to the left, dropped. She froze and stared at the patch of light and warm air coming up from there and watched as an elegant form moved slowly up, balancing a tray.

The trap closed automatically and the girl moved from the shadows towards them. Angela looked away quickly, her heart stuttering-she was not feeling particularly generous with her social propriety after being mortally harassed by a vampire and left unconscious for over a week.

"This is my daughter, Renesme" Edward said softly and Angela peeked from under her glasses and only saw the girl's bare feet. They were white and the nails coated perfectly in red.

"It is good to see you awake, Angela" the girl said in a clear procedural manner "Papa had said I may have given you too strong a dosage..."

Angela remained quiet and looked away.

"I brought you something to eat" Edward's daughter said in the same machine-production melody, and moved easily across the room; appearing at the other side of Angela's bed "I'll put the food here and you can eat when you are ready, okay?"

"Erm, right" Angela breathed, fidgeting with her bedding before peeking at the tray-burnt toast and runny scrambled eggs sat miserably on a white plate with a cup of what she thought may be coffee at the corner of the tray. There was no steam coming out of it, and Angela suspected it to be cold.

"Angela?" the girl called and Angela raised her head unwillingly. She met rich brown eyes. "I am Renesme-you can call me Nessie if my name is a handful..." Angela blinked dumbfounded by the way the girl spoke to her, as though Angela had not only woken up from a short comma but may have suffered brain damage too "And I am truly sorry for Nahuel's attack on you"

Angela felt her lower jaw dangling, blinked rapidly again-looked at Edward, who was silent and still-then back at the girl with wide unbelieving eyes. "So _very_ sorry, about the attack" Renesme breathed and her lips twitched into the slightest of grimaces and for a moment, a sparing second-Angela feared the young girl was going to suddenly and unexplainably begin to cry after her wonderful show of lack of emotion. The second passed and the girl's eyes ambled the coldness into their warm brown and her expression smoothed over. She stared at Angela for an improper length of time; oblivious to the discomfort she was causing Angela while she waited for Angela's response.

"It wasn't your fault" Angela said hoarsely, eventually "It was no ones fault; I mean, blood and vampires, right?"

"He _willingly_ submitted himself to bloodlust" Renesme stated disdainfully "And there are so many ways that that could have been avoided, but I failed to act and well, you see... it spiralled due to my lack of reaction"  
"Well, as long as I am alive, right!" Angela said in a shrill voice-she wanted the conversation and the memory to be left to the past, she waved her cast hand and looked at Edward hopefully-he had his eyes closed and face set in a way that made Angela think he was asleep.

"I have your painkillers with me" Renesme said in her hollow tone, reaching into the top pocket of her worn out pink blouse "They aren't as strong as the ones from before..."

"Thank you" Angela tried to smile and this was taken as a positive reaction by Renesme, who took the plastic with the medicine out and sat beside Angela on the bed, with stiff grace. Angela rethought their conversation, the word 'bloodlust' rebounding in her mind, and she thought that might be why Renesme reminded her of a hard plastic doll in character and motion.

"Renesme had a very hard year" Edward said suddenly "She is currently the standing figure of our family; Carlisle has left with Esme and the other vampires for South America..."  
"With Nahuel" Renesme added in a strained withering tone "But I have remained and Alice too..."  
"Yes, to take care of Charles..." Edward said "And Alice is uncomfortable with my current state"

"I am caring for both Charles and Leah" Renesme breathed, looking at her fingers with a frown "Leah's spine had to be broken twice and I have to perform surgery on her back to correct a stubborn nerve-I also have to make sure she is careful while her bones are healing"

"Leah, the grey wolf?" Angela said hoarsely and Renesme nodded. "How did she get hurt...?"  
"Nahuel" Renesme said, glaring at her fingers again. "He also hurt Charles-my son. Carlisle isn't going to bother trying to figure out Nahuel's paralysis due to Charles blood; they are going to hand him over to Huilen, she isn't so bad, but she may not want him after everything"

"Oh" Angela managed-understanding only a quarter of the information unloaded on her and deciding that it had been all for the best that she had slipped into a semi conscious during her attack and that she had had a week of blankness for her mind to rest. She looked at the table again, the one with the tray of bad breakfast, and saw her car keys. She wanted to leave immediately, to go back to her small apartment and lose herself to the library. It seems Carlisle may have been right... she really should have just left them well alone.

"We were wondering Angela, and this is really to put all of us at ease but of course it's up to you after everything..." Edward said carefully "But we think, it would be much more prudent if... one of us checked up on you occasionally?"

"One of you?" Angela blinked.

"Well, it will be Alice, myself and Jacob" Renesme said softly "And as I am only half vampire and Jacob is completely _immature..._we will be paired when watching over you"  
"I don't think I like the idea of that!" Angela laughed abruptly, the idea of a giant wolf and _Renesme _playing in her mind in a kaleidoscope of colours, similar in texture to vomit.

"I assure you that Jacob will be _well behaved_" Edward said and Angela swallowed her comment on dogs and the governing body's 'no pet' rule "And you may all benefit from the more _normal _company"  
"Normal company?" Angela said a little hysterically "A human, a half human and a giant wolf?!"

"Does this mean you don't agree to the precautions?" Renesme asked "You would rather move around with chance and fate as your banners?"

"No, I agree!" Angela said pushing her glasses up her nose "I just disagree about the _normal_ part"  
"Oh, the normal part _confuses_ her" Renesme breathed, rolling her beautiful eyes "Do we have to buy food for Jacob? I suppose we do, I warn you Angela... he may not have a taste for blood, but if there is _nothing_ to eat-he wont have qualms about cannibalism and..."  
"Renesme, _seriously_...?" Edward groaned.

Xx~xx~xX

"Right, I was bitten and fed on, now I am baby sitting Isabella's daughter after she tortured me and currently catching up with a limbless Edward Cullen-this is exactly how I hoped my life would turn out..." Angela muttered to herself, hobbling towards the car. Renesme was already inside, waiting stiffly behind the steering wheel-Angela smiled internally at this. Renesme had practically teleported out of the attic and stolen the car keys-leaving her to have an awkward chat with Edward. She was half vampire, but nothing about her suggested being part human and this made Renesme more frustratingly alien than any vampire (aside from Isabella, of course) that Angela had met.

Angela got in carefully, making sure she didn't thump any of her cast coated limbs against anything, shut the door and strapped her seatbelt on.

"I don't really think you are baby sitting anyone" Renesme said thoughtfully when Angela had settled in the car. Angela stiffened and looked pointedly out the window "But if it were the case, I will have you know I didn't need a baby sitter after I turned three years old... I must have been one"

"Right, of course, three is much too old to have a baby sitter, let alone one year old" Angela mumbled and then yelped when she spotted a giant russet blur flinging itself across the field and disappearing ahead in the thick trees.

"There goes _my_ previous baby sitter" Renesme said pulling the car up the long bumpy driveway while humming a tune, ignoring Angela's spluttering and pointing at the thick wall of forest zooming along them.

Xx~xx~xX

Renesme was a strange creature that wheedled great admiration-for she was _remarkably_ beautiful; but this was of course more noticeable when she was standing next to beings such like Angela Weber... in a dreary supermarket in an inconsequential town.

Renesme was breathtaking with creamy skin and rosy cheeks, sparkling cocoa eyes and thick eyelashes all set under well manicured eyebrows and emblazed on a head balanced by an elegant neck. She had most of Edward's height and none of Isabella's flat curves. Around Renesme's sharp face (which Angela Weber thought seemed to wear a continuous look similar to holding in a fart) a mass of billowing bronze curls moved abundantly.

"You should start thinking up reasons on why you were absent from work" Renesme said in her clear tone, that always seemed to be in a state of reprimand. "There is a woman talking about you, coming just round the corner-ah, there she is. Do you see her, Angela?-I know how _dull _and _pathetic_ human eyes are"  
"Yes, I see her" Angela said quickly. She turned her head unwillingly to the left-Renesme was just that interesting as she shopped for food-and saw Hannah and Mary waddling up the aisle. They were dressed similarly to when she first met them in the little diner, when they had told her in a breath everything they knew about the poor Smith family.

"Oh, Florence!" Hannah called and Mary's face twitched and reformed itself into a civilized scowl-worthy of one of Renesme's array of disapproving emotionless masks. Hannah grabbed Angela into a tight hug, practically shoved her back into the shelves with tinned goods and bean to laugh nervously. Angela's still healing body twinged from the abruptness and she rubbed her good arm with her cast covered hand.

"We were just talking about you!" Hannah chortled, her beady eyes dancing to Renesme-who was still studying that singular can of beans with a ferocious scowl. "How you have been missing for a bloody week and you know, Lucy holds you _very_ dear to her heart..."

Angela-currently Florence-felt her eyes widen at this statement; Lucy couldn't stand Angela interfering with her beloved Library.

"Oh, yes" Mary finally spoke although she was staring at Renesme, entranced "Lucy is in a _right_ state, you know. But it seems..." Mary paused, looking Angela over and taking in the cast on her left hand and the purple dressed leg as well as the bruises sprinkled over Angela's very thin face "You are in a more _left_ state?"  
"I went to visit the..." Angela pointed at Renesme's back "Erm, Smith's and had an accident with their... dog"

"They have a dog?" Hannah guffawed and Mary tutted, while Renesme smiled absently at the tinned beans in her hand, before balancing the can between her arm and rib and picking another differently labelled tin.

"It is really nice of you to include them into our town" Mary said nodding her head and then saying louder, as though assured that Renesme was deaf "Young Lady, it is nice to have you here!"  
Renesme sighed-loud and unnecessary-and placed the tins back on to the shelf carefully, ensuring that both their logo's faced forward and they were exactly as spaced as the rest of their peers before turning to Angela and stating with such wilting misery "There is too much soy and colorant in _all of them_. I guess we might have to slaughter that fusty cow if we want anything properly _organic_ in this village"

Xx~xx~xX

When they got out of the market, with only a single bag of food-nothing had been worth buying and certainly wouldn't be worth consuming, according to Renesme-there was a large tanned man with wild black hair leaning angrily by the Mercedes. Angela's heart jumped, as she finally recognised him as Jacob Black-the boy from the Quileute Reservation who had been as stupidly infatuated with Isabella as every other idiot guy in Forks.

"You are Jacob Black" she pointed at him "And you look, wow... you have aged well!"  
"I haven't aged" Jacob growled, his mouth twisting and arching at the corner into a badly suppressed impatient scowl.

"When I last saw you, you were about fourteen?" Angela's smile twitched idiotically on her face and Jacob continued to look pissed at everything "And you are about twenty five or maybe thirty?"  
"Sixteen" Jacob said curtly, pointedly looking at the sky now "You saw me before I phased, or maybe you only remember me from then"  
"Phased?" Angela blinked.

"It's okay Angela" Renesme put the bag of food in the back of the car and steered Angela away from Jacob as though Angela were but an elderly rambling woman. She opened Angela's door for her, sat Angela in and strapped the seatbelt over Angela before making a show of whispering "He can be a real _ass_" to Angela and then saying in the same tone and volume to no one in particular "The doors are open, if _anyone_ wants to get in too"

"I'll set my ass in the back" Jacob Black said-a hint of laughter in his voice, and as he got in, the car dropped to his side with a rusty groan. "Me and my ass are in, you can go now"

Xx~xx~xX

The car interior had been cold and sterile when Angela had been alone with Renesme on the journey to the supermarket. Renesme did not make conversation, talk or seem to understand that normal human behavioural conduct. She would _'announce' _things in her clear reproachful tone, then reprove of something to do with their surroundings and then fall into silence in these three steps for about ten minute intervals, whether Angela responded to her or not.

Jacob Black had the opposite effect; the car was hot, the air seemed too tense and his hulking form seemed on the verge of tearing out of the car. He would huff and growl, folding his arms over his expansive chest whenever Renesme dared to do her 'announcements' and when the car came to a halt in front of Angela's apartment-he said that he was _very_ hungry and that there had better be food.

Angela shot Renesme a panicked look, and Angela saw much to her mortification-even though she sort of felt satisfied that Renesme had produced a human reaction finally; Angela saw that Renesme looked genuinely concerned by Jacob's statement with regards to the packet of tissues, scented candles and the box of crackers that were occupying their shopping bag.

Jacob got out of the car, stretched and muttered to no one in particular the idiocy that was _small cars_ and then bounded ahead of them to the building.

"We can order-in" Angela smiled, patting Renesme's arm and flinching when Renesme scowled at the spot where Angela had touched. Renesme stared in fear after Jacob's chaotic entrance into the building-that left the flower patch along the walk path flattened and a shrubbery tattered and uprooted.

Xx~xx~xX

"How did he know the number of my apartment?" Angela asked Renesme softly during their long ride in the elevator. Renesme sighed wearily and responded in an annoyed voice "He was told, obviously"

"Right, of course" Angela breathed. Alice gave out her home address after promising her she would be safe and have privacy...

They arrived on her floor, and quite to Angela's surprise Jacob was standing outside her door-she had overreacted in her mind, deciding that Alice had handed everyone, including the 'fusty cow' in their dry pastures, a copy of her keys.

Jacob was huffing and scowling impatiently while Angela unlocked her door with shaky hands. The moment it was open, he bounded in ahead of her rudely-ignoring Renesme's disapproving tutting on his boorishness (which Angela preferred to Renesme's frostiness)-and went for the fridge. He opened it and bellowed "Water and Mayonnaise?!"

"I eat at the diner most of the time" Angela squeaked and then in a heavy wary tone, she asked the two strange individuals "You wont be staying here, will you?"

"Only Jacob" Renesme said in a confusing sort of smugness "I have to tend to Leah"

Jacob slammed the refrigerator door and backed away from the white machine, as though its very existence was an affront to his good sense. He ignored Renesme and went into the kitchen, opening various cupboards and groaning when there was no food in them-at one point asking Angela why she owned so many plates when she had nothing to put in them.

"I will be back in the morning, hopefully Leah will be healed" Renesme continued and Angela thought-especially since she had not been spared the venomous tension between Renesme and Jacob; that Renesme was trying to get some sort of reaction from Jacob, that Jacob was either ignoring or too hungry to care for. "I am leaving now" Renesme pronounced.

"If someone wants to leave, then they _leave_!" Jacob hissed at a box of cornflakes he was shaking "As they have _demonstrated_ before; in _leaving_ their husband and son"  
"I...explained... and if you are going to wield that as some sort of weapon especially if you have no recollection of the matter..." Renesme spluttered, casting Angela another one of her rapid human expressions before the space she had been occupying was left empty with a whooshing sound-a similar exit to the one from the attic.

"Whew, I thought she wouldn't leave!" Jacob breathed grinning impishly at Angela and placing the cornflakes on the kitchen counter before launching himself onto the counter with grace that defied his masculinity. He swung his long legs in unabashed joyfulness, the toes of his feet scraping the ground "You said something about a diner? Are we eating there? I promise you won't have to worry about _strange_ meal requests from me-I don't eat _human _and only touch on animal if I am on four legs"

"Not strange at all" Angela mumbled, deciding that both Renesme and Jacob Black were on equal footing when it came to strangeness, although the latter somehow managed to keep it wrapped up behind his muscles.

Xx~xx~xX

Jacob Black, although not sharing in anything in appearance to the Cullen's even with his rather roguish good looks-shared one distinct thing that Angela was soon finding adhering to her with all her new dangerous supernatural acquaintances... Jacob Black was extremely lonely, and that isolation shined freely in his dark eyes.

The diner was empty when they arrived, and the tall powerfully built man that was Jacob Black was practically jumping on his feet with joy at the prospect of having pizza after a long dry spell of what he called 'vampire cooking' (after witnessing her breakfast back in the attic, Angela sympahised greatly). But his excitement had been at first, disturbing-until Angela remembered how he had spat out that he was sixteen and his delight at the word 'ass'.

She let him order the equivalent of four adult shares while she settled herself to a burger she knew she was not going to finish. He ate the first meal in silence, forgetting she was sitting in front of him and she watched him in wonder. He then slowed down a little on the second mean, sheepish now and conscious of her staring.

"It's a wolf thing" he explained "The appetite..."  
"Sure" Angela smiled, taking a sip of her milkshake "Like blood is a vampire thing?"  
"Not the same" Jacob scowled "Vampires don't have to live on human blood-like the Cullen's. If there is one thing I like about them, aside from Carlisle and Esme-it's that"  
"Why, don't you like them at all?"  
"It's not really like that... I do like them" Jacob said cautiously, taking a sip of his large milkshake and then sighing "I like them. I like Emmett, and Jasper can make you feel at home and then Rosalie-she is like Rebecca you see. And Esme is the _redeeming cook_" he smiled a little when he said this and then added sombrely "But they can never be my family, no matter how much they try"  
"Who is your family?"

"I don't have one, not anymore-I missed them while I was with the Cullen's" Jacob said gravely and then loaded a fork with lasagne and jammed it in his mouth, ending the topic. He stuffed his mouth, barely chewed and swallowed-all while chugging his milkshake-for a good five minutes. He stopped abruptly, pushing the clean plate to the side and placing his pizza in front of him with a twinkle in his eye.

"So, Bells made your life a living hell, eh?" he asked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation of his pizza and keeping his gleaming eyes on his treasured food. Angela started at the breeziness he had hopped onto the topic. "Join the club"  
"I don't think we fall under the same club" Angela breathed.

"Ha, you think you are an _exceptional_ victim?" Jacob asked grinning at her, white teeth flashing momentarily. "I used to think I had it worse off, sure. And I admit, I thought you had it worst off too, for a moment..."  
Angela took a sip of her milkshake to calm her nerves, and then realising this was not going to be nearly enough-called the waitress and brusquely asked for some alcohol. Jacob eyed her with concern, having heard her _dull_ and _pathetic _human whispering to the waitress but remained silent.

Jacob sliced his pizza and carefully picked up a tinier triangle and placed it in Angela's still full place "Here, try some... it smells like its going to be out of this world"

"No thanks" Angela said but he dropped it in her plate, next to her burger with its single bite mark.

"Burgers have too much stuff in them" Jacob said expertly "Bread, lettuce and shit-pizza, it's all stuck on. Easier for those with little appetite"  
"Right" Angela breathed and picked the triangle up with two fingers and put it in her mouth, making a show of enjoying it for Jacob. He smiled-a sad smile that startled Angela in its authenticity and the many hidden fragments of Jacob it revealed. He was a deeply caring person, and although he didn't know her-he had _decided_ to care for her. She wondered if Edward had asked him to do so, as much as he had asked her to endure his daughter and Jacob.

"I was telling you how I thought you and I may be the worst affected by Isabella?" Jacob asked nonchalantly and Angela nodded. "Well, we aren't"  
"We aren't?" Angela strained to keep a smile on her face, it twitched like Edward's facial tremors. She was insulted, she was offended by Jacob Black; her ordeal with Isabella was nothing short of brutal battlefield torture tactics.

"I mean, the thing about psycho's..." Jacob murmured staring at his half finished pizza. He stopped and sighed, then looked at Angela with large sad eyes "I kind of figured it when I was thinking about my past, this recent week. I thought about my one friend Embry and uhm, my other sort of friend Sam... I remembered how Sam's douche of a dad used to terrorise Sam and his mother"  
Angela kept the smile on her face, behind it, she was still seething at having her suffering slighted.

"...and I don't know, maybe it's the 'Old Jacob' seeping through" Jacob grumbled and Angela frowned in confusion at the odd statement but decided that she would let the strange be strange, with no questions asked "Anyway, I had a moment of maturity or insight and realised something; Psycho's always hurt the people closest to them"

"You see" Jacob looked at her sternly "Sam's dad was a perfect gentleman to everyone else-but a right asshole to his family"  
"Your point?" Angela almost snapped.

"Isabella hurt the ones closest to her in the most raw and unforgiving ways than she would have ever bothered to hurt anyone else" Jacob took a sip of his milkshake and then, forgetting his moment of _maturity_ and _insight_, pouted when Angela's cider arrived. "I want one too!"

"Show me your identity card" Angela grinned, sipping her drink. Jacob fumbled with something in his pocket and flung it at her. It was a wallet. She opened it, and saw a crumpled picture-she took it out hesitantly, Jacob nodded that it was okay for her to view it. It was a picture of a beautiful Native American girl with such large eyes and flawless skin and she was cuddling a young boy-a pale boy with large alarmingly green eyes.

"Is that your..." Angela frowned, nothing about her theory tied in to what she had now learnt of Jacob Black but she continued "Is that your family?"  
"Yeah" Jacob said airily. "My son..."  
"And wife?"  
"No, not wife" Jacob breathed, reaching over the table and taking Angela's cider. He gulped it down in a second and placed the empty glass hard on the table so the plates shook.

"Oh" Angela stared at the picture for a moment and something about it all made things seem more dangerously hopeless for the Cullen's.

"He is Renesme's son" Jacob said in a deep rumbling voice. "_Our_ son"  
Angela forgot about checking Jacob's age and closed the wallet, sliding it across the table silently.

"Do you agree with me?" Jacob asked suddenly, his voice straining with abrupt desperation. "You and I are not _beyond_ repair-there are those who are _worse_ off?"

"Yes, somewhat" Angela said unwillingly, recalling Renesme's robotic fussing over her damaged father and the way Renesme's mouth trembled when she briefly mentioned her son.

"The girl is Leah" Jacob said after a moment "A dear friend to me-and as I have learnt, a dear friend to Renesme too"

"As you have learnt?" Angela raised an eyebrow.

"I don't remember the last two decades of my life" Jacob explained "I don't remember anything, save that Bella got married and she had been pregnant"  
"Lucky you, the memory loss part" Angela muttered, her thoughts drifting to the alien like daughter of Isabella and Edward. She thought Renesme seemed perfect, at a glance-but something about her reminded her of an article she had read on a Bedford House Wife that had laced the gardener's tea with rat poison after he cut the grass too short. How that woman hadn't understood why people thought she had overreacted... and why using a ruler to measure grass had been the logical thing to do, perfection was a difficult chore and one not to be taken lightly...

"Lucky me, huh" Jacob grumbled despondently, finishing his pizza off. The two sat in silence the remainder of the evening, Jacob only stating after Angela had three ciders, that he would drive them back to the apartment.

Xx~xx~xX

"Huh?" Angela blinked as a harsh light pierced through her eyelids and snapped her out of her numb sleep.

"I had to check your arm" Renesme's voice rang irritatingly in Angela's head. She groaned, and grabbed a pillow, covering her head and trying to drown out the lovely technical sound of Isabella's wretchedly beautiful daughter.

"Go away" Angela groaned.

"Jacob said you had a whole bottle of wine on your own when you got back home?" Renesme asked-this time without reproach but with interest.

"He told you this?" Angela laughed, flinging the pillow to the side and peering at Renesme. She was standing in front of the light that was streaming sadistically from the window, her bronze hair tinged like flames at the ends were the light penetrated it but her face hidden in the shadows. "He _actually_ spoke to you?"  
"Well, not really... he well, said it out loud" Renesme coughed out and then she moved to the dressing table, picking up a box of _something_ "I didn't give you these pills? Were did you get them?"  
"I always had them" Angela sat up. In her irritation to being woken up, she forgot that she was slightly afraid of Renesme and stared at the back of the girl's form insolently as Renesme fussed over her things on the dressing table.

"You still get your period?" Renesme asked turning around and holding a generic brand of tampons and studying the writing with as much concentration as she had the baked beans "I thought you were way into menopause!"  
"Now how would you come to a conclusion like that?" Angela snapped, rubbing her temple.

"Well..." Renesme placed the box back on the dresser and faced Angela, her face revealed and eyes wide and staring. She said slowly, as though Angela must surely be slow for missing such an important fact "You see... you are _ quite _old and unkept"

Angela frowned and looked to the side, trying to blot out Jacob's hard chortling from the lounge by concentrating on the pain in her left damaged leg, which was insisting on throbbing in time to each bark-like chortle.

"Well, maybe give the elderly a bit of privacy?" Angela grumbled. Renesme blinked at her in confusion and sat on the edge of the bed, either not comprehending or refusing to comprehend.

"Will you be coming to our house today?" Renesme asked.

"Of course not" Angela snapped rising from the bed and hurriedly searching for some pants in a heap of crumpled clothes. She stopped her rummaging, and whipped her head over to Renesme-ignored the fear that ran down her spine when she met what was once Isabella's eyes and said-with as much force as her previous dictation to be a strong willed woman could allowed her "Get out of my room, Renesme, so I can change in peace"

Renesme looked up at her startled, this time leaving Angela's space with evidence of movement.

Angela deliberately took a lengthy shower, bothering to wash her hair this time and imagining Renesme and Jacob standing on opposite sides of the lounge either glaring at each other or pretending not to want to look at the other person.

Xx~xx~xX

"My father enquired about you, and he would be disappointed you didn't come to the farm" Renesme said, sitting on the stool by the kitchen table and watching as Angela prepared her coffee.

"Send him my greetings" Angela sighed wearily.

"Why are you cranky?" Renesme asked "Are you _hormonal_?"

Jacob snickered and Angela's shock was drowned by the surprising sight of Renesme blushing. She realised Renesme actually thought there was nothing wrong with some of the things she said or blurted out.

"Some beings have two super powers instead of one" Jacob announced, imitating Renesme's pretentious tone. "Some people not only _force _their thoughts onto others with a slimy touch from a _molesting_ hand..."

"See how immature he is!" Renesme rolled her eyes.

"...but can ruin a perfect hangover morning with their superior ability to _annoy to death_" Jacob finished and Angela turned around quickly, trying to purse her lips into a pinch and stop them from smirking.

Xx~xx~xX

They were back at the diner, much to Jacob's joy and Renesme's frustration-she didn't like the way bacon smelt when it was being fried; an announcement she made when they were still five minutes from arriving at the diner. Angela ignored the part about her humanly dull sense of smell, and then disregarded the rest of Renesme's complaints. Instead, Angela thought about Jacob's slight hint that there was more underneath his outwards animosity to Renesme and held on to that to overcome the exasperation Renesme wheedled out of her with each second.

"... Papa needs someone to talk to other than Alice" Renesme sighed "Alice is always going on about how bleak and unfocused the future is"  
"Because it is" Jacob snapped, and Renesme naturally ignored him. Jacob was seated in the corner of the booth, beside Angela while Renesme sat alone on the opposite chair to Angela. Angela could feel the heat wafting from Jacob and had taken her sweater off, ignoring Renesme's improper staring at the motion.

"I am at my wits end with Charles" Renesme sighed, picking at her fries and then placing them down sulkily "He hasn't moved past the thirst, even though Nahuel is far away"  
"Why don't you get Edward to help him?" Angela asked, casting Jacob a concerned look when he went too quiet and pushed his plate of food away.

"Charles can smell venom, you see" Renesme's demeanour became controlled-and if the two strange youthful beings had seemed to be so far in character from each other, they united on this topic. An anxious glint was in both Renesme and Jacob's eyes-and although Renesme had introduced the conversation with as casual a manner as she did everything, there was tenseness beneath her pale beautiful face that was threatening to escape. Angela believed Jacob instantly in that moment, in his unsaid theory, that Renesme was extraordinarily damaged beneath her ritualistic control. "I don't have any venom but Alice does. And Jacob hasn't _released_ him"  
"Leah asked me not to" Jacob said softly, and Angela thought he may have forgotten to direct the statement to her and not Renesme. Angela decided not to inquire about this _release_. "You know he asked me to get him just a _cup _of blood from Nahuel?"  
"But you said Nahuel was a half vampire like yourself?" Angela asked, looking around frantically-they were still alone in the corner of the diner and the morbid contents of their conversation were safe.

"What do you mean by your question?" Renesme frowned "Yes, he is a half vampire... I am not a liar, if you were told so then _that _was the lie. If you didn't have such feeble senses, you would have seen and heard him when he attacked you that he was no vampire and..."  
"This isn't about her being human, you pompous Bronze..." Jacob snapped, his eyes gleaming violently-his face shuddering. Renesme stopped, looking away to the outside coolly. Hannah and Mary walked by, on time for their breakfast in the diner.

"All I meant..." Angela gently touched Jacob's tensed forearm, brought her hand back quickly when it felt like she may be left with a smarting blister from the heat of his skin. He calmed slightly, but didn't relent on scowling at Renesme "Half vampires have blood?"

"Yes" Renesme answered, her barriers propped up fully "And Nahuel has venom too. Charles seems to have become addicted to both Nahuel's blood and venom"

"So wouldn't he want _your_ blood?" Angela whispered, peering at the bobbing fascinators of the two elderly women moving to the far counter, at their normal spots.

"It may take some time for Charles to rid his system of Nahuel's venom" Renesme continued, disregarding Angela's initial question "But there was something I thought about and Leah agreed with me..."  
"Humph" Jacob breathed, unappreciative of any agreement between Leah and Renesme about Charles that he didn't know about.

"If maybe I could watch him at your place?" Renesme whispered. "Away from the scene of... everything. I know he will feel awful when he is himself again, and he is really a lovely boy. Jacob would agree... if he wasn't such an _amnesiatic_"

"He isn't a boy" Jacob growled "He is a man and maybe you need to _humble yourself _a little more with your request"  
Renesme blinked unperturbed by Jacob, outwardly.

"Is he dangerous?" Angela asked.

"You met him at the store front in Forks" Jacob said.  
"Oh, yes, I know... but my memory is rather foggy..." Angela looked up at Renesme and prayed she wouldn't bring up 'old age' "And you really can't tell a person's danger by their looks these days"  
"No you can't" Jacob grinned, looking at Renesme pointedly "But Charles, he isn't interested in human's in any _vampire sense_ and he needs to clear his head after being exposed to _such_"  
"Why can't Jacob watch him?" Angela asked as gently as she could "I mean, at my place-then they can both clear their heads and uhm, systems of... blood and stuff"

"Leah would like that" Renesme nodded and Jacob's lips twitched "She agreed that she would be counter helpful with Charles recovery, due to the imprint"  
"The...?" Angela began and Jacob muttered "Don't ask"

"Hmm" Renesme closed her eyes "Then Alice and I can deal with Papa and analysing Charles blood and the effect it had on Nahuel. When Leah is fully healed, I can help her with the patrolling and Charles and Jacob can get _some_ school"  
"You see, now this is how you made me phase the last time...!" Jacob growled. "And there is no attic to run to this time!"

"Angela, you agree that having an education is important?" Renesme asked.

"Angela, you agree that remaining _alive_ is more important?" Jacob asked.

"Uhm, well... I agree that both are important" Angela chuckled "And the great thing is you can do them both at the same time!"

Xx~xx~xX

"You don't have to do this, you know" Jacob told her on her way to work. He had settled himself at the idea of reading a book before heading back to the farm to check on Leah and Charles.

"I know" Angela said smiling "But something about today reminded me of something"  
"What was that?"  
"That once, in a past that I am slightly amnesiatic to as well..." Angela smiled at him "I used to like helping people; without reason or prejudice-simply because it was the right thing to do"  
"You do realise you are helping 'people' who could 'accidentally' kill you"

"I think we could all accidentally kill each other, in some way or another" Angela sighed "If we were too lazy to be careful. Now, remember to be quiet, Lucy is very _particular_ about noise"

"I'll do my best" Jacob chuckled.

"She is kind of like... erm, Renesme... so she might irritate you" Angela smiled, glancing at him as she parked the car. "Try not to get annoyed when she oversteps, she really doesn't know when she is doing it"  
"Sure, sure"

"And Jacob..." Angela finished, feeling lighter than she had ever felt since leaving Forks.

"Yeah?" he eyed her with humour dancing in his eyes.

"Is it possible you forgot Renesme but she didn't forget you?"  
"That's exactly what happened, honey" Jacob chuckled and Angela made a note to stop him from getting too familiar with her later on; she could tell it was in his nature to be _cheeky _and daring-like he was above authority or even authority itself.

"I mean, if you two had a child then... surely you were in love" Angela paused "I mean, it was planned and erm..."  
"It's not so simple" Jacob's face hardened.

"All I am saying..." Angela breathed, exiting the car and Jacob doing the same "Is that if your theory with Sam's father is right, and your theory with Isabella is most certainly spot on... then what's to say that she didn't love you and Charles so much-and that's why she hurt you so much?"  
"I don't remember" Jacob said rigidly.

"Maybe you are using that as a crutch-so you can be cruel to her without remorse"

"Maybe _you_ don't _know_ what you are talking about" Jacob laughed hard "Isabella _never_ loved Edward truly. And Renesme, she never loved me-I am at least eighty percent certain of that. Don't try and cross analysis her bitchy crazy self so you can give yourself a reason not to _loathe _her, she is that way because she _is_"  
"You and I both know that's not true" Angela said but Jacob remained silent. "When you said that thing about Sam's dad last night, it made me think something too. Out of everyone that Isabella harmed, you say Edward and Renesme got it the worst. I think you are wrong"  
"You already agreed that I was right" Jacob said, but he was clearly interested in what Angela had to say.

"Renesme got it the worst and you knew it-that's why you brought it up" Angela said. "When you love someone and you are a psycho like that; you don't just damage your loved one, you destroy them. Edward, when I spoke to him-he was broken, but not destroyed. You have your own issues but I can assure you that you will deal and get on with things at some point and I don't know about _Charles_. What I can say about _me_ is simple and easy; I would like nothing better than to see that _bitch's head on a stick_"

"Your point?" Jacob scowled.

"You said you had no family, and yet you have Leah and Charles picture in your wallet" Angela murmured "You outwardly loathe Renesme, but you worry about her-"

"I do _not_ worry about her!" Jacob roared.

"Come on, that whole thing in the diner last night was you trying to get me to understand something about her, not for my protection but for hers! So I could understand her before I came up to my own biased conclusion!" Angela said, trying not to let Jacob's frustration and huffing intimidate her. "My point is, just because you don't remember being an adult Jacob Black-doesn't mean you _aren't_ one"

Jacob stared at her bemused.

"Hello, Jacob Black-so good to see you again" Angela stuck her hand out bravely and Jacob shook it


	7. Chapter 7

**COME DINE WITH ME**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

"What is that?!" I asked her and she froze-a silly human reaction she had, that she probably wasn't aware of. She was standing awkward by the refrigerator with a metallic bottle of blood in one hand (Blood that Charles had 'refused') and her right hand clasping the handle of the fridge door. It was that hand, that she had not anticipated moving and causing the purple sleeve of her sweater to ride up and free her wrist.

"What?" she had covered her wrist and closed the door, still clutching the camping bottle that was supposed to go inside. "This?" she used her left hand to point at the refrigerator "It's a machine people use to store perishable foods"

"Charles didn't want to come here _really_, huh?" I asked her, walking carefully around the table to the inside of Angela's little kitchen. She looked away from me and pursed her lips, swirling the extremely thick liquid inside the bottle.

"He wants to be near Leah" she told me. "_Naturally_"  
"That wasn't his argument's point in there" I pulled my ear lobe indicatively "My hearing is not as good as yours, but quite above average when I am on two feet, but that's good enough at times"  
"All he meant by saying what he said is that he doesn't like to wait for the blood, naturally" Renesme said through her pursed lips. Her eyes were wide, and deceptively innocent like their previous owners had been-but her heart gave her away. Little things that were oh, so human-gave her away; not her eyes, not her stance but her heart and her twitching little finger. "When the blood is cold, it isn't so good"

"Then there is no problem of me removing the edict on him? It feels evil doing that to him, making him paralysed like that" I cocked an eyebrow. Her heart picked up pace, her little finger began doing a weird double joint clicking thing.

"No" she said stonily.

"But if he wants blood, then he can go hunt and have really hot blood?"  
"No"

"You could teach him to hunt" I smiled at her and she scowled. Angela had paused her tiding of her room, probably wondering why there were voices _communicating_ in the lounge, and not growling and hissing or silence. She understood those three things about Renesme and me. I took another step forward and she backed up against the kitchen counter, looking away from me. If she was really smart, she would just zap on out of here-but if she thought I was an idiot, she would remain standing there like she was the Queen of Sheeba.

She chose the latter, naturally. I grabbed her wrist hard, she didn't flinch-it wasn't too painful for her hard skin. She tugged once but I was adamant. I flipped it over, and saw the red violent scab surrounded by bruised half moon marks and two rather prominent looking punctures.

"You are teaching him to hunt on you!" I growled and her eyes widened, if possible. She tugged again, but she didn't really bother to just force herself free-I could see how pale she was, how ashen her lips were.

"No, no Jacob..." she whispered in fear, gulping down hard and then steadying herself "It's like he is addicted, you see. He showed me... and I analysed his blood, I tried to come to a solution and I couldn't because I am no scientist. Not like Papa and not like Carlisle, at any rate..."  
"So you are telling me _Edward_ knows about this?" I hissed, twisting her hand again. She turned it right back easily but still didn't free herself.

"It's like humans and heroin, isn't it?" she said, her lower lip quivering and eyes bulging and shining with tears. "He wasn't eating before Jacob, he had no appetite-and it didn't matter. His body was rejecting the food"  
"I have seen him eat!" I growled "He and I made pancakes this one time..."  
"You could let me show you!" she whispered desperately.

"What?"  
"I could show you, with my _gift_" she said slowly. "I know you think I am crazy, I know you think I have no heart and I am cold-but I could show you what Charles showed me, what he feels"  
"I..." I looked at her hand, careful to hold only her wrist. It was a small hand and the wrist tiny, and I was suddenly so sure that with her height-if she had not been an immortal, she would have been a lanky tall girl. The bite mark was right over a still healing one, the skin around it pink and purple. It wasn't pretty and with her white cream skin it stood out like an alien infection. "No, don't show me. Just tell me"  
"Right" she breathed and twisted her wrist free of my grasp easily, quickly pulling her sleeve over her wound. "My blood is a substitute to Nahuel's blood. You remember what I told you, about Nahuel's blood being laced with venom and how addicted Charles got to it..."  
"You need to stop thinking everyone is a retard just because they turned thirteen at thirteen-of course I fucking remember..."

"Well, it was really the blood that got him, it wasn't like Nahuel had some _rare_ type of blood-well, I guess if you start over thinking the number of half vampire males, then maybe he does. It was just more intense because of the venom Nahuel produces. Same potency as a vampires, you see" she explained, ignoring me "Venom. That is his heroin"

"That's stupid, his body makes its own heroin" I paused "I mean venom"  
"Trace amounts, what stops him from phasing and what keeps him more... like you, not really human but still..." she said the like you in a low apologetic tone. "Vulnerable"  
"I am not vulnerable!" I growled and Angela paused her ignorant bustling in the lounge and stared at us.

"When you are in your human form you are vulnerable" she said quickly "When Charles is operating on his _own_ venom, it isn't enough to fuel his transformation and he can't phase-it hurts him because he is draining _himself_"

"You came up with all of that to justify how disgusting you are!?" I spat and she jumped back into the cupboards. Angela began tiptoeing towards the door, sneaking out of her own apartment. Renesme flicked her gaze to Charles and me's bedroom as Charles began moaning to go back to the farm with his mother.

"Oh, don't you even think about getting holy on me, Jacob!" she said low and dangerous, her fear turning into anger quickly "I offered you the pure truth" she waved her hand "And you declined. I don't need to tell you anything because really, you are nothing less than my son's older immature friend!"

That stung. I was quivering, shaking but I was in control. She took a minute before she continued-trying to gauge exactly how far away the wolf was.

"Do you want to hear it?" she asked, raising a delicate eyebrow. I nodded tersely. "I figured it was the venom from the way he reacted to Alice and I realised that the manner in which it was leaving his system had left him thoroughly hooked. So hooked in fact, that as it is clearing out-he became frightfully weaker. He can't eat human food yet-yes, I think we can get him back to that eventually. So he was starving, he couldn't keep the animal blood down in his system"  
She stopped to moisten her lips, fiddling with the hem of the sleeve once more and checking to see how far the wound was healing. Charles groaned, and begged her to stay close by, to stay at the apartment. She frowned slightly, pursing her lips and closing her eyes-fighting to not give in to him.

"I analysed it all under Papa's instruction" she said softly "And the level of protein animal blood holds is too low to supplement the amount needed in Charles system. So I tried it with human..."  
"What the hell do you mean human!" I hissed and she made to touch my arm to calm me, but I shrugged away-leaving her hand hovering dejectedly half way up.

"I stole from their blood banks" she said carefully.

"Before you continue, tell me Renesme" I looked her in the eye "Did you steal for yourself?" she looked away.

"Anyway, human blood is too low either" she said rigidly, glaring at the door "Practically useless for Charles"  
"But useful to you"

"So I asked Leah" she looked at me then, a weird sort of satisfaction gracing her face-the tables turned so suddenly and it was my turn to turn stiff "I took a sample and like I suspected-she was of a higher percentage. Much higher-the same as me. Do you want to know what's in here?" she waved the silver metallic decanter.

I held my breath, already fearing her name being said.

"My blood" Renesme breathed and I exhaled a loud breath of relied. She frowned at this but continued "He won't drink this-although it's the same thing. It has to be fresh, to be exactly the right temperature-his body is very fastidious at present"

"This could have been Leah" she raised her arm and pulled the sleeve down; I didn't look at her wounded wrist "If I had asked her, Jacob. This would have been her-and I can tell you right now she would have agreed had I but asked her"

She breathed in and out heavily, her lips were still ashen but some colour had returned to her face "I don't think Leah would have faired well with venom in her system, don't you?"  
I touched the slash mark on my forearm from when Charles had bitten me, the skin there healing in a bumpy leathery scab.

"I gave him blood" she said slowly "To keep him healing as the venom leaves his system-and now I have brought him here, to you because he is now strong enough to go through the withdrawal on his own nutrition"  
"I don't expect you to try and understand" she sighed "You were sheltered too, in your own way"  
"I get it" I said quickly. "I don't want to, but I get it"

"I knew you would not be as sympathetic or..."

"Emotionally Manipulated as you?" I tried and she smiled grimly.

"Well, you won't give in to his requests and he has no interest for humans at all, so Angela is safe"  
"Doesn't it bother you?" I asked her softly "With everything and now this? I mean, I am digesting-I have to cope. But it's all so..."  
"Macabre" she sighed. "I don't know; he has an acquired taste for the immortally damned, as Papa would think-does that not make him the human's avenging angel?"

"He is his own avenger" I whispered thinking of Bella's attack on Edward back in the woods of Forks, thinking of Charles practicing his stances with his katana. "And he is hungry for his own justice"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"It's quite..."Lucy paused, placing a rigidly held crooked index finger against her thin lips she looked up, to the left; exaggerating the fact that she had obviously over thought the whole situation already before I had brought it up "Belligerent"

She closed her eyes and nodded-saying more to herself than to me "Yes. Very Belligerent ad questionable"

"Their living situation at the farm was quite tense and I had the extra room so I thought that I would do the, erm, Christian thing..."  
"You say the one boy is a step one of which one..." she cut me rudely and I reeled back-I couldn't remember the intricately constructed fabricated history Renesme had fed me. I blinked dumbly, confused and she sighed irritably. She dismissed her question with an impatient wave of her hand.

"No matter" Lucy sighed "I heard Mary say she saw you at the diner one evening with the boy and his... I guess it was his stepsister?"

"Yes" I said quickly, I would have to go over the story with Renesme again and Frosty (as Jacob referred to her) would not be pleased I had messed everything up after she had asked me twice if I understood. Maybe I could blame it on being human...

"Well, Mary said he was obviously not Carlisle..." Lucy gave another one of her deliberate pauses, ignoring the little girl jumping and sulking by the counter to have her book signed out "It's just, I would imagine the level of tenseness... what do you expect from a multi-erm-cultural home?"  
"Multi..." my mouth popped open in shock and Lucy took my moment of befuddlement to serve the little girl.

"You know..." Lucy drawled wearily, doing her hand twirling gesture of impatience on a slow moving topic or person "He is a... Native American, isn't he? Well, according to Mary he is but I wouldn't be surprised if she saw wrong. The woman gets worked up when one of the young ones catches a tan..."

"Uh..."

"His brother is also Native American?" she asked and I knew I had definitely ruined whatever story I had been instructed on "Native American" Lucy said thoughtfully raising her finger to her lips "That is the terminology, right?"  
"I guess" I mumbled, imaging Jacob being asked this question directly-I was caught between wanting to laugh and groan with fear. He may be his arrogant insolent self and give Lucy the shock of her life, but he could just as easily be the being rolling of aggression and heat and shock Lucy's life out of her.

"Well, Mary says after the Church service we are having a function-we do it every year around this time, naturally" Lucy smiled smugly "And as you are all new to town, you should come"  
It wasn't a question or an invitation-it was an instruction.

"They are atheist" I said quickly, although I remembered the golden cross dangling around Renesme's neck on her creamy skin after I had been admiring her lovely purple cardigan.

"Even the red-haired beauty Hannah was going on and on about?" Lucy asked innocently "Surely _she_ isn't..."

"Especially her" I blurted "Bunch of pretty atheist with their new age garbage"  
"Now, now..."Lucy chided but she seemed strangely pleased about my little rant "You should bring them regardless; be like Mary-a disciple, a fisher of men. All you have to do is pick the longest rod and stretch over to them"

"I am not sure about whether... fishing will help, with these types of atheist"  
"Oh, you can go to Mary and she can talk you through how to communicate to non-believers" Lucy said in her soft voice, her patronising one "Do you think that will help you communicate with them?"  
"Now, that I don't doubt" I grumbled.

Between Lucy, Mary and Renesme; I was unsure who seemed more likely on causing me grave discomfort if I failed to follow their instruction. And that was saying something about the two initial women who were put against an emotionally dysfunctional half-vampire!

"I am expecting all four of you there!" Lucy proclaimed and my insides whirled nauseatingly.

"Four?" I groaned "But their half brother is unwell!"

"You see! This is the hand of God working!" she smiled "Now how can anyone be sick at such a time; God heals all things, no matter the sin or type of person..." she paused and frowned "Even the _heathens_. And after the boy is healed, as a token of appreciation, you can all be healed"

"Baptised?" I murmured and Lucy rolled her eyes, no doubt thinking I was entirely retarded.

"Freed from demons, girl!"

From the quick hissing and snarling I had heard this morning in the kitchen, Jacob actually bothering to _touch _Renesme-I would say our demon infestation and reached an all time high.

Xx~xx~xX

The apartment was quiet when I returned, the curtains shut tight and the whole place stuffy. The moment I placed the shopping bags on the counter and took the fresh bread out of its packet-a loud snore erupted from the lounge and Jacob hopped up, chanting sleepily how much of an 'Angel' I was. He dragged his large body sleepily from the poor couch he had been oppressing with his huge self and made a beeline towards me-his eyes on the food.

"You coulda called me to help you carry the bags" he yawned rubbing his stomach.

"You would have heard me?" I chuckled but I was unsure on his hearing "From the parking lot?"

"Uh, no... Not in my current form" he grinned sheepishly "And more especially if I am asleep. But Charles would have heard you and shouted it out to me in my dream"

I stared at him for a moment, shocked at the casual mention of Charles and ignoring the nonsensical end of his sleepy statement. The elusive Charles –who had been moved into the bedroom quietly by Renesme in the dead of night when I was asleep I was sure, and who had remained in the bedroom since. The evidence of his existence consisted of high groans and soft swearing that came from the thick walls of the room. I was yet to see him, and the image of him from the Forks shopping lot had long blurred...

"What?" Jacob frowned self consciously-I had been staring at him.

"You have got drool on your left check" I sighed and his hand shot up and wiped the glistening russet cheek "And could you at least put a vest on?"

"Why, my being a hot guy bothering you?" he grinned wolfishly.

"If you were a hot guy, dear..." I shook my head "You would be sweating"

"You mean you would be sweating!" he laughed and I rolled my eyes. "You want to give me hug, eh? I bet I could work up a sweat on you... and if you want to really be drenched..."

"Oy!" I snapped "Get a shirt on now!"

Xx~xx~xX

Renesme did not make an appearance all through the afternoon and I feared I would have to ask Jacob about his altercation with her this morning. I was intensely reluctant to play arbitrator to Renesme and Jacob's petty confusing feuding (I was sure neither of them really understood their animosity past "How dare you have amnesia and not remember how fucked up our life was" and "You left me and I am pissed-even though I don't remember a thing, and I am sixteen and bored"). My experience from my last _willing _visit to the farm made me understand that a scuffle or fisticuff between two immortals was not something I should ever allow myself to witness.

Although I was happy my apartment was whole on my return, I certainly did not want the details of today's spat.

"It's getting late" I stated, closing the windows. Jacob didn't answer, he had offered to make supper and that consisted of half cooking and eating the food "Shouldn't Renesme be here to check on Charles?"

He hacked some of the mince down his throat and threw me a doleful look "You trying to kill me?!"

I rolled my eyes and waited for him to get over his hour free of Renesme.

"From what I gather" he smiled blissfully "She won't be around much. She is busy with stuff, I guess hunting for Edward". I flinched and he rolled his eyes "You got to get used to the terminology, hon"  
"I thought we agreed no 'honey'" I frowned.

"But you are just so sweet!" he smiled innocently and I failed not to return his smile. A low moan stopped our silliness and Jacob frowned.

"Be right back" he breathed, skipping into the guest room and shutting the door quickly behind him. he had left everything on, naturally-the lasagne half prepared and mince sauce close to burning. I took over and fixed the botched cooking, busying myself with preparing strawberry and whipped cream dessert.

I tried to strain my ears; imaging what it was like to hear the world past low moans and muffled. In my concentration, I failed to notice Jacob staring at me amused, watching me whip the cream furiously.

"You got a strong hand there!" he laughed as I blushed. I quickly put the bowl of cream in the refrigerator. I touched the silver handle of the door-it was dented oddly, wrenched in the slightest manner.

"How is Charles?" I asked him and his expression hardened. "Does he need anything?"  
"He needs time and rest" Jacob stated, that hidden authority in him emerging "Why were you asking about Renesme?"

"I need to talk to her about our alibis and back stories?"  
"Is it urgent?" he asked glancing at the door hiding Charles from the world.

"Sort of, I suppose"

"I doubt her number isn't in your phone" he murmured "In fact, I am a hundred percent sure she would have put it there"  
"When...!" I began but as I scrawled down the contact lists of my ancient dumb phone, her name appeared 'Renesme Carlie Black'. I froze-not from the surprise that she had taken my phone from me (that wasn't a shock due to her being more vampire than anything else or having such abundance of ignorant audacity).

"You said you are divorced?" I asked Jacob, trying to keep my voice nonchalant.

"Didn't say, but yeah, we are... her and the old me, at least" he grinned suddenly "I wouldn't have married that! wouldn't even have given her a handshake, not my type"  
"Nothing personal?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing personal" he grinned "I swear"

"Right. Check on the lasagne –use a fork and don't eat anything!" I turned around ignoring his whining and huffing about not being 'built to be commanded'.

"I asked her to come over" I told him, putting the phone away. His sulking turned into a scowl; it would have terrified me had I not known him and known how entirely innocent some of Jacob's anger was. "You not going to get into it with her, promise?"  
"Look, we haven't broken a wall, have we?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no..."  
"Then we haven't gotten into it yet" he ended dryly, sounding almost apologetic about the fact.

Xx~xx~xX

Leah Clearwater reminded me immediately of Pocahontas, the Disney version. Her held was held high and strong, her whole form was held high and strong and she exuded a similar dangerousness as Jacob had when I first met him. She had bags under her eyes, wore a worn grey t-shirt in this chilly weather and had her hair pulled in a haphazard pony. Leah Clearwater was exotically breathtaking.

"Hello" she said stiffly, extending her hand. I took it, shook it quickly and released it-wiping my dewy hands from their momentary clasping of fire. Another hot Native American, Lucy and Mary are going to have a field day...

Renesme looked indignant and flustered, sighing and huffing behind Leah's tall form blocking the entrance. I waited for her to be very _Renesme _and say something equally cold and rude, but all she managed was a sour scowl-which was useless if Leah didn't have eyes behind her head.

"Thank you so much, Ms Weber for looking after that idiot there and my Charles"

"Uh, you are welcome!" I grinned at Leah's impish but exhausted smile, beside myself with how quickly she shed her intense intimidation. I opened the door wider-Leah ambled in much to Renesme's further displeasure.

"Master's first, dogs follow" Jacob hadn't missed the cause of Renesme much more concentrated pouting.

"Can I see him?" Leah asked-looking between Renesme and me.

"Of course, Leah" Renesme said and it was the first time I had heard her sound entirely sincere and wielding some level of compassion.

Jacob and Renesme both watched Leah rush to the guest room and something about the way they both watcher her with varying levels of longing and love (Renesme seemed unbothered in revealing this emotion, as though it didn't threaten her like anything else), something about their gaze following her made me realise that Leah Clearwater was the dose that kept them from breaking walls.

Xx~xx~xX

"You had better finish that!" Jacob growled, glaring at Renesme's slow reluctant prodding of her lasagne-her fork seemed undecided between the lasagne and salad and opted to meander between both "I slaved over the stove for that!"  
"You slaved...?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Angela helped" Jacob muttered, filling his mouth with food to stop from adding anything.

"Oh" Renesme managed "It's just that, there is a spice... a lot of, erm... cinnamon?"  
"its lasagne not apple crumble, Ness" Leah laughed, emerging from Charles room. Her eyes were red, but she seemed... brighter. Jacob looked her over in the worst show of furtiveness-leaning over his plate and scanned her, poking his nose with his fork and spilling food.

"No bite marks, Oh Mighty Alpha" Leah scowled viciously at him, waving her hands "I am not so weak as you both thought" a soft moan came from the bedroom and Renesme sighed "We know, Charles"  
Leah sat down next to Jacob, opposite Renesme and grinned at me "Jacob made this?"  
I nodded.

"You expect me to believe he made food that made it into our plates and didn't get terminated in the pots?"  
I laughed and Jacob blushed; he didn't have a come back for her, and remained strangely silent, only shaking his head and giving her a half willing disapproving look. Renesme picked up her fork with sudden energy, watching Leah with fascination as she ate and she began taking larger loads of food and chewing more enthusiastically. Going to church with these three beings didn't seem so daunting suddenly, and by assumption-Charles couldn't be that badly behaved?

I was glad I had made dessert, nothing like cream to sweeten the idea of church.

Xx~xx~xX

"...but I was specific" Renesme stressed, licking her fingers free of cream-it seemed dessert was more to her liking. I met Jacob's gaze suddenly and he quickly looked away-he had either been eyeing Renesme's desert of most confusingly, eyeing Renesme.

"I gave you a simple instruction..." Renesme was working up to a rant "I talked you through everyone's false relation, back ground, history and history of troubled children."  
"That's a lot of information to unload" Leah said softly but Renesme continued unperturbed.

"Do you know how entirely bad be if someone noticed irregularities...?" she asked shrilly "They would lead to noticing _impossible _irregularities! Of the supernatural kind! And they would notice it in us-in all of us-you included Angela, I you think being human somehow _exempts_ you!"

"You are way over board...!" Jacob began but Leah shocked him into silence when she held his arm with force, imploring him to remain silent with a stern look. He shocked me by listening, understanding Leah's wordless command-albeit grudgingly.

"I don't..." I tried to defend myself, to explain but Renesme's eyes flashed.

"Your ability of retention is as reliable as a sieve!" Renesme shuddered with anger "Simple instruction, not a lot to ask...?"  
"Not all of us can have titanium minds, Renesme "Leah droned, looking strangely calm.

"If the slightest word went out my son would be doomed!" Renesme gasped "We would all be doomed!"  
"All we have to do is twist the story to what Angela let Lucy believe" Leah smiled.

"But...!" Renesme's eyes were wide and disbelieving.

"Now that you have had your rant, without interruption" Leah said "Let me point out something; you have been working overtime on Edward, on Charles-feeding Charles your blood..."  
"What!" I yelped dropping my spoon, but they all ignored me.

"...you are weakened, Nessie. Charles and the work, no sleep!" Leah breathed disapprovingly "I haven't seen you sleep since we got you back! And you insist on patrolling!"  
"Someone has to do it" Renesme gasped. Her face twisted into a pre-sob expression coupled with glistening eyes but she managed to smooth it out before the tears fell. She was back to her rigidness, but she couldn't quite get back to the coldness I associated with her.

"Alice is as helpful as a statue" Renesme said through clenched teeth, determined to hold her control "She is lost without the greater use of her gift, and it has been dimmed to nothing over the past weeks. It has traumatized her. I am contemplating sending her to Eleazar until Jasper is back in America, but we all know how that would be taken. That would be a Wicked Witch of the West move, from me... now wouldn't it?"

"Ness, all of that and you want to worry about my spine?" Leah said, she glanced at me-and I understood. I couldn't take Renesme's outburst to offence-this was her world, and it was chaos.

"I have to operate!"Renesme looked down at her bowl. "I just want Charles back, Leah. And we all have to be strong... don't you see. I am the only one who is okay-physically. Jacob's brain is messed up and Alice is going through whatever that is and..."

"Charles" I cut her softly "If he has venom, shouldn't he be a vampire? couldn't he break out of here?"  
"Would you like to formally meet him?" Leah asked. I looked at Renesme but she was gulping back tears, Jacob refusing to look at her.

"Yes" I said "I would like to meet him"

Xx~xx~xX

The room had been decorated and redesigned, so drastically that it felt like walking into another apartment. In the space of two days, Renesme had done work on the walls, ceiling and floor-including all the new furniture, which I couldn't remember being lugged up any staircase or stored in the lounge. She had turned the room that had only occupied a single bed, into a five star (albeit very small) guest room. I had imagined him chained to the bed or something, shackled and bound with some sort of magical rope (I wasn't ignorant enough to rule magic out of the Cullen's world) but instead he lay motionless under a navy smooth sheet, staring bored at the ceiling from a grand bed with soft scatter cushions.

He was gaunt, but not yet reaching an emaciated point but I could tell he wasn't far off. For a second, I thought it was some dying form of Edward. But then his eyes swivelled and met mine, I quickly looked away-I had seen a being entirely _other._ I understood now how he was Jacob and Renesme's son. He was gorgeous, like I had expected, his skin was sallow and hair black or at least a very intense brown that flowed and melted even though it was cut rather short. His eyes were bruised terribly from lack of sleep, his mouth ashen and chapped and on closer inspection I realised something was terribly wrong with the way his lips pulled over his teeth.

"Angela" he said softly, I almost didn't hear him. I saw white glistening with the movement of his purplish lips and distinct toothy incisors "She is worried about my teeth" his voice was hoarse, he closed his eyes and swallowed before continuing "They keep coming and going, trying to phase I suppose. But I wont phase, will I Jacob?"  
"Hopefully" Jacob said parched. Jacob was watching me closely, but I hadn't looked at Charles again. I was scared of him so intensely and the fear shamed me but the truth of the matter was-he was less human than any of them. In his sickly almost dying form on the bed, bruised and pale with mat skin and eyes too large and sunken and shining a nonexistent light right through them like all seeing spot light... he was possibly more alien than E.T. And the sad thing with Charles was how easy it was to tell that he had once been human; and this made it all the more frightful and miserable.

"She can't look at me" Charles murmured. Leah had located herself at the right side of the bed and looked like she was battling with herself not to fling her body over him and hide him from me. "Is it that bad? I mean, I like all the visitors-its nice, but if everyone is going to stand around watching me _thirst_ without at least offering me a _drink _after your lovely dinner_..._ then you can all fuck off!"

"Charles!" Renesme tutted-and I watched her perplexed as she fussed about, similar to how she had been with Edward but only this time, she behaved like the grown albeit weak man on the bed was a toddler. She moved closer to him, and a hungry growl so deep and menacing erupted from his frail chest that I backed up, bumping into Jacob who inadvertently blocked my impulsive escape.

"Oh, he is much better Angela" Leah said "He was nothing but snapping jaws and swear words before Nessie figured a way to give him his mind back. She has been working non-stop, our little choo-choo train that could"

I looked at Renesme closely, she appeared not to have heard the praise-moving around the bed and carefully conducting what I thought to be physiotherapy on Charles hands. Charles was moaning fast things, unintelligible to me but Renesme seemed to be the only person who could hear his quick gabble. She threw a series of 'No, Charles' and 'Be strong, Charles' before covering him up with the sheet-everything was so fast I couldn't make out when she had removed it.

"What was that about your spine?" Jacob asked Leah, he was watching Renesme closely with a frown; he evidently had not known the extent of her busy-bodying self.

"Nerve" Leah said nonchalantly, as though it was nothing but a cold. I watched her fingers creep over the covers and come to rest by Charles shoulder "Need another operation till I can phase, still isn't in place. My leg keeps twitching. Edward is insistent Renesme gets some rest before the operation"

"Erm, maybe Charles may not be able to come to church" I mumbled, feeling idiotic about being pressurised by a bunch of old women into church and thus, trying to get Jacob and Renesme to come with me. "Maybe I can go alone?"

"Appearance!" Renesme tutted, forgetting to change her tone back to reproachful "I will go with you and then afterwards maybe you can pay my Papa a visit"  
"Did he ask for me?" I asked her (ignoring the part of how I would be forced to be in her presence alone for a good hour) and she looked at me closely.

"No" she said "But I know he wants to make sure _you-_and I don't know why he is troubling himself with that-he wants to make sure you don't think he is a _demon_"  
"I don't think he is a demon, I never did!"

"Ha!" she laughed, and it was strange to see her loosen up, and only with Charles in her sights "If my father had his way, he would be the reason for every catastrophe that has ever occurred on the planet"  
"Reminds me of some other bronze brooding monster I know" Leah chuckled and Renesme blushed.

"I can stay with Charles" Jacob said softly.

"And I'll try get Alice to move a finger at least before you get to the farm" Leah smiled "I am sure she will be happy at the prospect of a house warming party"  
"House warming...?" I smiled confused.

"Why, _here_ of course" Leah grinned. "The Cullen's are _famous_ for their parties"  
"Oh, I remember the graduation party" I smiled. "That was lovely"

"I was there!" Jacob jumped excitedly "Finally something I remember, I was there! I gave Bella..."  
"No one wants to know" Leah hissed, looking at a rigid Renesme with unease "Especially if it's about you and Bella swapping cooties, crabs and _evil_!"

Xx~xx~xX

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews! The title changed, although I was certain on its name-this was originally three thousand or so words, and I had started with this ending section of Charles in Bed. I got carried away over a bowl of strawberry and cream, lol. But I think the more interaction, the more we see the relationship dynamics weaving out. I will try and respond in a review or pm, and maybe keep the authors notes minimum! Till next time,**

**Xx**

**TJ**


	8. Chapter 8

**I GOT A FEELING**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, simply points the way.**

**Xx~xx~xX**

"Argh!"

The worst part about having your sleep disturbed rudely by the harsh beams of sunlight on your face, is not being able to cover your eyes up, not being able to turn your head away and your only mode of defence is snapping your eyes shut and looking through the red membrane of your eyelids-that reminds you painfully of blood.

"Rise and shine kid" Jacob is standing right in the middle of the white screen of light, nothing but a silhouette. He turns to look at me, but I can't see his face. He is a living shadow with a heart beat for a moment, a shadow that smells almost as good Renesme. Nothing like Nahuel and nothing as sweet as Leah.

"Shut them!" I groan, my throat on fire and stomach grumbling. It had been grumbling all through the night, a nice little distraction from the thirst.

"Nope"

"Please?"

"Your mother and Angela have gone to church" he states. I already knew this, I had heard them talking about it and I had heard Angela having a timid phone conversation confirming she would be coming to this church. "Leah is talking to Alice about coming over..."  
"You know I don't fare well with vampires right now!" I groan and he walks over to me slowly, pulling an ottoman to the side of my bed. I watch him from the corner of my eye, and hate that he is staring at me with such pity. "Jacob, please... I don't want to embarrass myself-I have done it enough with Renesme"  
"The fact that you know that feeding from her is just _sick..._" he spits and I close my eyes, tears stinging under the lids and Renesme's soft cry for me to stop filling my ears. I miss him so suddenly, someone long gone and dead-I miss my _father_. "That little fact there, it shows we have made some improvement" Jacob finished.  
"I don't want to!" I tell him and frown when the tears fall anyway.

He is silent and I close my eyes, wishing he would just go away. I can smell him-I have smelt all of them since Nahuel. I think I could always hear the heartbeats, but when you don't know your own body... you don't realise what is happening. The thirst was well hidden before Nahuel decided to spill his blood all over my tongue, so well hidden even I hadn't realised what was happening. Living in a constant state of tension, imagining the Volturi or Joham sauntering through the edge of the forest of our farm, ready to finish us off-to end us.

"Did she tell you everything?" I ask him, not bothering to open my eyes "About how it came about to her giving me blood?"  
"Yes" he says.

"Was it everything from the conversation you had here?" I ask him. "In the kitchen?"

"Yes" he sounds tired.  
"Then she hasn't told you everything" I sigh "She is protecting me from you"  
"Protecting you from me!" he growls. "That pretentious little... Argh!"  
"No, you don't get it..." I whisper "Promise you won't judge her?"  
"That's all I know how to do, Charles" he sighs. "But I'll try my best"  
"After Nahuel went..." I start slowly "I mean, you saw what happened when Renesme moved me to be with Edward"

"Hmm" he nodded. I tried to skip over the memory, I tried to move over the guilt and the pain I felt at some of the words I had flung at them-at Edward-the way I had hissed, snapped and begged for him...

"I just..." I sighed, the tears back and I felt so weak, more than from just lying here on the bed, more from having an empty growling stomach and a roaring throat. I was drained, mentally and emotionally and I suddenly wanted that maddening frenzied violence of the thirst back-where I didn't have to feel or understand. "He left and it didn't go away, Jake. And then it was Edward, and then it was Alice... and I knew I was going to go insane, I just knew I was evil when it was Leah!"

"I told her, I told Mother" I finish sombrely, opening my eyes finally and staring at the ceiling that I had come to know better than the back of my own hand now "I told her that Leah would be enough to quench the thirst and I guess that was when she knew I was far gone and brought her wrist to my mouth"

"And she didn't tell me this part because..."  
"I asked her not to" I say softly. "If... if you were my dad, you would have understood, but you aren't"

He was silent; his heart beat steady and powerful. If he was my dad, my wanting Leah would have caused a different reaction in him. But he wasn't, and I was so certain if he had seen into my mind and felt that want, he would have shielded her from me-the monster.  
"Hmm" he sighed after a moment, absorbing everything. "So, you _wanted_ Leah? Did you want her... more than Nahuel"  
"That's different and I can't explain it" I said quickly, nervously "It is all different; Edward wouldn't understand it because he drinks blood and doesn't have blood himself. Renesme can't get it because she doesn't smell venom..."  
"You smell venom?" he asked suddenly, not able to hide the disgust. I flinched as the emotions began bubbling inside me all over again, the deep yearning for my father and that sense that I was in mourning, looking at Jacob's face. It was all too much, like when the thirst from the venom had abated, and now the thirst for the _blood_ wasn't all consuming-my mind could now register other hidden things inside of me with a renewed much more concentrated verve. In the next second, my eyes were prickling again and the guilt and shame threatened to crash me through the bed and straight to hell.

"I just..." Jacob whispered, staring at his large hands "I want to understand it Charles"  
"You hate it!" I hissed and my voice was loaded with emotion "You hate the blood and the _venom_ more!"  
"But I don't hate you!" Jacob roared, lurching forward and coming to kneel on the side of my bed. "I could never hate you, Charles."

"I drank from Renesme and I liked it" I told him cruelly-confusing him with my father. My father wouldn't have been so concerned about my wanting Leah in comparison to my feeding from Renesme. This man by my bed, he had it all twisted around and it angered me. I would rather he were indifferent than cared because he was doing it all wrong.

"She said you had to... to keep your strength up" he said gently.

"I don't ever want to be like that!" I confessed. "I don't..."

"And you wont, Charles, I wont let it be like that again" Jacob's hand touched my shoulder "I'll be there for you, like Renesme okay? I haven't really been there like I should, I know"  
"You are here now"  
"Yes, I am" Jacob said softly "And I think you must be sick of the bed rest. I think you should be free to move and be" he said gently but his voice held the chiselling tenor, commanding-and I felt my limbs unlock. "Charles, I believe in you but you need to believe in yourself"

"I can't" I insisted, curling my fingers and revelling in the intense aching pleasure the easy flow of blood gave with the movement. My breathing increased, heart clenching and releasing with the anticipation of freedom from the binding Alpha edict.

Jacob was watching me, and each surreptitious look I managed brought forth a doubled image; my father watching me with his miserable but devoted love and hovering over me with his barbaric aura and then this Jacob-with his concern and fear, his hopeless determination to _overcome._ He wasn't gong to coddle my pain, nurture my self pity-as far as he was concerned I was a man. We were men here and men find solutions and act on them.

"I don't think you would have hurt Leah" Jacob told me sternly "Just my personal opinion"  
"You don't know what the thirst is like..." I rasped "Just my personal opinion"

"We got a piece of it from your mind"

"We...?" I began then looked away as comprehension hit. Leah had been in the wolf conscious 'conference room'. My shame and disgust trebled. She had looked at me as I had been-lying in the bed demented and gone, and known for a few seconds that I had tainted her mind with such vileness.

"How is the blood thirst different from the venom?" Jacob asked suddenly, and I whipped my head in his direction, glowering at his composed 'venom free' form.

"I told you that you could never bloody understand!" I spat.

"Only because you are unwilling to try" he said calmly.

I took in a breath, raising my leg and the thrust of the blood made my toes tingle. "Venom is your finest malt" I imitated his calmness "It's your whiskey, the finest wine and the most refined drug"

And in a tone I had no hope of ever restricting and keeping such sourness out, I said " And _blood _is your cheap wine or generic beer. It wont taste as good, not by far and it wont give you that sweetest of highs but it will get you drunk enough to wipe the edge off not having any whiskey, right?"

"Oh" his façade wobbled and some concern and fear filtered into his hard looks "I think I get it"  
"No, you don't" I smiled miserably at him "Let me tell you about this special _whiskey _and _drug_"

His eyes were wide as saucers and this gave me some satisfaction.

"When I had it..." I begun, my throat and muscles crying feebly from the all too brief memory of Nahuel's intricate blood "When I took it, I was invincible" I growled, unperturbed at how manic my voice was went it punched into 'invincible'.

"I was power and strength" I breathed excitedly, unbothered by his horrified gaze "And that was but a diluted concoction,, his blood fed the thirst..."  
I paused and in a low groan "Bt his venom fed something more. Something more evil and greater... my immortality"

"You don't know what you are saying" he gasped, rising from his seat and pacing the room "You don't! Are you aware of the words coming out of your mouth Charles?"  
"Fully" I settled back into my mind and pulled the shame and self loathing over myself, blanketing my self from those demonic feeling of supernatural grandeur.

"You are certain?" he asked again "You know what you are saying"  
"I am telling you what you wanted to know!" I roared "You know now, and you see? You are already ready to hate me"  
"No, I am not" Jacob said "I wanted to know, you see-because if you didn't have an ounce of remorse in you then you wouldn't have told me the whole truth. You know what's at stake and you are in control"  
"I can't control it!" I shuddered.

"You haven't attacked me and you could have. Right here in this moment, you had every opportunity..." he raised his hand and I saw a feint pinkish wound. It was jagged across the inside of his palm. The idiot had cut himself. "And I now know you didn't ignore it all just because I am the big bad wolf" he grinned.

"You are such a..." I groaned, thankful that the surge of thirst hadn't been just my mind but his childish bravery. "It doesn't matter, just because it isn't like the venom doesn't make it any less satanic"

"Satanic?" he guffawed and then laughed free "Dude, you sound like Edward and Carlisle! So what, are we all demons now?"  
"Not helping" I grumbled.

"Let me tell you a story..." Jacob sat at the edge of my bed "Before you ruin yourself with all this nasty self pity. There was a vampire and there was a human. By all natural accounts this vampire was evil and although it tried not to be evil, it was soon tested when it came face to face with a human"  
"I now this story" I cut him rudely.

"Shut up and let me finish" he sighed. "Anyway, the human was the ultimate temptation, the most desired blood for this vampire-and that meeting was supposed to spell the end of her. But it didn't because although the vampire knew it was inherently evil, its heart was good"  
"Edward and Bella" I sighed "Look what good all of that did"

"She may not have loved him and even back then I had had my doubts about her intentions with a vampire" Jacob said thoughtfully, wrapped up in memories "But ever since I spoke with him during the New Born war and till this day, I knew that this _demon _was _truly _in love with Bella and would never intentionally hurt her. I guess that was what made it so had for me, knowing he was a good vampire"  
"Your point?"  
"It's up to you..." Jacob said sombrely "Settle into what you think you should be because of your genealogy and possibly ruin your future or fight it as hard as you can and see what your _own _destiny is?"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"Uhm, since it's really _my_ car..." I said carefully, determined to hold Renesme's brown eyes "I think I should drive?"  
She looked at the car thoughtfully then back at me with a hint of humour, it was difficult to tell "You know, you have a good point there-it really is _your_ car"

I smiled at her and waited for her to move away from the drive's side. She looked at me with mild patience, opened the door and sat behind the steering wheel and before she closed the driver's door in my face, she said "I suggest you get in, Angela. I absolutely _hate_ moving slow"

I wished desperately for Jacob to be here right now, forming the warm loving buffer to Renesme's awkward coldness. I wished he was here to tell her off or at least scare her into politeness... I strapped the seatbelt over my body angrily and settled with great difficultly against my pride, into my unwanted seat beside her, without a steering wheel in front of me.

"Oh, don't be upset Angela!" Renesme sighed, kicking my relic car into gear and wheeling out "Many people _own_ things that they don't _really_ know how to use"

Like you own a heart... that you don't really know how to use.

She ignored me then, whistling a melody that I now knew and associated with her. It had a slow wilting melancholy texture to it and no words, or if there were words, she kept them well to herself. I liked the tune in fact, but in my sulk the song began to grate me with each second. I wasn't upset about her being the one to drive; she could drive all she wanted! The car was riddled in arthritis and she may have been correct in saying she knew how to drive, it certainly was much smoother with her-it needed a sturdy control. What upset me was the fact that Renesme didn't seem to understand that I was older than her by _far _considering her genealogy, or that I needed any respect whatsoever because I was human. What was infuriating was how Renesme thought that being human was a disability, and at times she acted like she was doing me a _favour _by rushing ahead and doing something super fast or...  
"We are here" she interrupted my thoughts "You can stop fuming, God doesn't like it when we sulk"  
"How would you know?" I snapped.

"I sulked and look were it got me" she said in her monotonous arid tone, that only _suggested_ humour but never _delivered_ it "In a backwater village with _you_"  
"Right, because you are such a lovely _engaging_ person" I opened the heavy metal door with energy and slammed it with just as much verve and not two steps from my stomping away from Renesme did I have the misfortune of seeing Lucy. She stood there, face pinched and eyes wide-looking from my _still_ huffing form to Renesme, behind me.

"You are missing one" Lucy said dryly, mouth pinched and eyes narrowed. "But I guess this is as much as we could ask from you?"  
"Erm..."

"Hello" Lucy cut me, her tone changing drastically to something acidly pleasant. She waved at Renesme, her eyes large and in awe-no doubt falling prey to Renesme's beauty. "It is so lovely of you to come to our church"

Renesme walked over to my side exceptionally leisurely for someone who found it difficult to wait on anything and took in a slow whistling breath when she reached me, turning her head this way and that way-possibly watching as the sheep entered the pen, like the fox she was...

"It is, isn't it" was all Renesme said, before gliding ahead and pulling in way too many eyes and leaving Lucy in danger of a heart attack.

"I have never!" Lucy breathed, but the wonder hadn't left her eyes yet.

"I better catch up to her" I said quickly "Heavens knows what kind of blasphemy she is committing right this second"

Xx~xx~xX

The church was old, well built and boring. It reminded me too closely of Forks and the sudden shock of realising that today was Christmas Eve made it all the more painful, the realisation that none of us had known, too caught up in our own little hells-was unforgivable.

"This church design is interesting" Renesme stated. I ignored her rude wonder-why her head had to be turning snappily to view things was beside me and would she die if her mouth wasn't pursed? "I can't believe how they managed to keep character out of their church. It is absolutely _dreary_"  
"It isn't dreary!" I hissed and she started, this time I was sure she found my anger amusing-a little smile was twitching on her plump lips. "It's small and quaint and for heavens sake, today is Christmas Eve and you didn't even know it!"  
"Of course I knew" she said softly, falling back in her seat with way too much grace. "Leah's birthday is on the twenty sixth"

"How old does she turn?" I asked her.

"Shhhh" said an old woman with fluffy snow hair in the row directly in front of us. "Honestly!"  
"Erm, I am not sure" Renesme said thoughtfully and then added with a wry smile "What with her having such... good genes"

"Young lady...!" the old woman turned around in her seat with a lot of shuffling, creaking and huffing. Her thin fingers curled on the back rest, spotted and bony and her milky eyes looked Renesme dead in the face with a sort of unseeing quality "Do you have no respect when you are in the house of the Lord?"  
"The pastor is still getting dressed" Renesme stated, but she watched the woman with interest-a curiosity little children showed when in a zoo "He wont be out for ten minutes"  
"I apologise" I said quickly, when the old woman's lower purplish lip (spotted like her hands and face) began to quiver in anger "She is... erm... mentally challenged"  
"Mentally challenged?" Renesme raised an eyebrow but didn't turn to look at me "Of all the reasons?"

"You young mother's of today!" the woman waved a righteous bony index finger in my direction and Renesme stiffened while I spluttered (surely I didn't look old enough to be a mother of a twenty year old?) "You think _discussing _a punishment is the punishment itself! I say the rod is the way! You ought to whack this little things bottom till its blue and black, and that will teach her respect!"  
"You know, you are absolutely right, Ma'am" I grinned, touching her hand "All the colours of the rainbow too, eh?"  
"Talking about the pastor's changing!" the old woman took three minutes to get back into her original position.

"He _is_ changing?" Renesme blinked at me confused. "Well, he is done now... he is going over his sermon..."  
"The problem, Nessie..." I paused and smiled, realising that I had never directly addressed Renesme before "You are the _only one_ who can hear that!"  
"But it doesn't make it any less true" she pouted, glaring at the back of Nana Snow-Hair's head. I was suddenly afraid for the old woman, wondering stupidly if humans were like wine to vampires and praying it wasn't so.

"Let me make you understand your world better than _you_ know _how_ to" I said slowly, touching her hand tentatively. It was cool, not cold and I was so glad for that. She started when I touched her, her eyes glued to our contrasting skin tones-her cream to my pallid olive "When you are with vampires, you do as vampires... but currently you are with humans, so you do as humans. And you have it easier than Alice or...your...mother... because you are actually half and half"

"Half and half counts for nothing. Regardless, I knew how to be humanlike before but then... something changed or rather, it intensified" she said slowly, looking up at me with large disarming brown eyes. They were swimming with a thousand emotions that she could never portray in an expression on her face, in an action-all contained in her orbs. A sadness that reminded me of Edward, an innocence that seemed childish and an anger that was almost ancient and behind all of this, was an imbalance that made Renesme Cullen destructive, an ultimate weapon against her own self. "It's the..._blood._"  
"Blood?" I asked hoarsely. She took her hand from beneath mine and stared at the front, the pulpit with the stained glass story of Jesus behind it. "Your blood?"  
"Hmm, my blood?" she scoffed. "No not mine but your blood, Angela. This old woman's blood" she cocked her head roughly to Nana Snow-Hair, a regal motion and then with a sneer on her lips she turned head left and right and then said in a much softer voice-no, not voice... it wasn't a voice-she said in ringing note that sent a chill down my spine "It's _all_ this blood"

I bolted to a painful perpendicular stance on the bench, my eyes wide and terrified-scanning the space filled with murmuring people and then I locked eyes with the stained glass Jesus. He looked dolefully back at me-I had brought a demon before him, hadn't I?

"I can hear your heart beat" Renesme sighed, her voice relaxing. "Did I frighten you?"  
"What do you think!?" I rasped and she laughed-really laughed, not too loud but it was genuine. It tinkled and startled the old woman, the young boy beside her and they both turned to glare at Renesme and I. Or at least, the old woman managed to glare-the young boy grinned stupidly at Renesme and blushed.

"You see..." Renesme touched my hand to grab my attention and I watched as she grinned fully at the boy, lips pulled over pearly teeth and his eyes glazed over, staring dumbly at us. "If you are living with vampires, as a human... you need to do as vampires. No, not do... know and think as vampires"

"This is for me or you?" I asked, the boy paled after a second and blinked rapidly before slumping out of sight in his seat.

"For you" Renesme explained "I heard your point and it has some truth"  
"_Some_ truth?" I breathed and she frowned delicately.

"Okay, a lot of truth I suppose" Renesme sighed, her eyes looking up in exasperation "But _you_ need to know how to behave too"

"What, you want me to come to terms and understand that people are nothing but blood bags to you!" I hissed and she smiled slightly.

"Angela, I never had a human friend" she said "I had Jacob, I had Leah and that was as far as beating hearts went for me-and we weren't all that intimate really. I knew how to _act _human when I was with humans, any vampire knows that. But I never learnt how to _be_ human and you must understand how entirely more complicated that got when I... tasted human blood"  
"With Nahuel?" I asked and she flinched.

"No, not with Nahuel..." she said parched "We all slip up at some point, and let's just say when I did... it made Nahuel all the more attractive to me because, well... he wasn't trying to rehabilitate me and he didn't think I was disgusting. Now hush, we are about to be told about the spirit of Christmas"

Xx~xx~xX

The idea was to attend church, make sure one of them saw me and as Lucy was conveniently loitering in the front of the Church-Renesme and I were by all means supposed to leave without notice. But of course, there had to be some bake sale and kitchenette of sorts that required women armour up for a passive aggressive war defending their recipes and cakes.

"Oh, Florence...!" Mary called, waving from between two stern elderly men. She beckoned for me to come over to her, her eyes gleaming and stuck on Renesme's bored face.

"Let's leave" Renesme stated and I sighed, tugging her sleeve and attempting to move her forward. She looked at me amused and said "I thought we agreed that if I was learning about human living, you were learning about vampire living. Now, what are you attempting? To tear my lovely cardigan?"  
"Move!" I snarled, whacking the side of her arm when I couldn't even make her lazily dangling small arm swing. "Can't you see Mary calling us, or are you taking your human lesson so _eagerly_ and bypassing poor eyesight for complete blindness?"

"She just whispered to her brother-in-law that she suspects you used to use drugs before you came here" Renesme said "He thinks I am your daughter-we have no resemblance except being female. All these people are either senile or truly mentally challenged"  
"Argh!" I left her and wove through the many people (that I was suspecting to be the _whole_ village... erm, town) and began formulating a reason for leaving 'Carlie' standing like the Einstein retard she was in the middle of the crowd.  
"She is shy!" I blurted the moment I reached Mary and her two companions. They stared at me with mild confusion.

"Err, this is Florence" Mary touched my shoulder and poked me forward. I lurched and the taller man started, eyeing me like I had tried to mug him "She works under Lucy"  
"With Lucy" I explained.

"Under Lucy" Mary said smiling threateningly. "And the girl behind..."  
"I am Carlie" Renesme stated and both Mary and I jumped. "You are the pastor's brother"  
"How did you know!" the taller man smiled, looking at Renesme with that same wonder that I was realising was entirely _human _and therefore pathetic.

"Your..." Renesme grinned and looked at me, winking "Resemblance"

"Oh, yes... she is absolutely right!" the tall man exclaimed, clapping his friend on the back "I do look like Paul, don't I? I mean, the beard gets in the way but she has a good eye"  
"I didn't catch your names" Renesme smiled and they were all under her spell, and it felt so sick to watch from the outside as they spluttered and eagerly gave her their names (" Robert, but you can call me Bobby, sweetie").

"I am Carlie and it is most lovely to be in your... community" she smiled automatically, or at least machine like to me. Mary, George and 'Bobby' the pastor's brother all seemed to think Renesme was a walking breathing Angel.

"Oh, Florence... what did you mean to say atheist are evil!" Lucy had joined us now, revelling in being included in Mary's circle with her new shiny 'Carlie'. "They are simply misunderstood people"

"Like terrorists... but I don't see you hounding them to attend mass" I mumbled but they had no chance of hearing me as Renesme began to tell them of the Missionary program in Brazil and how she had volunteered and this had changed her life.

"Oh, the poor orphans..." Renesme sighed and I had to look at her, with the mount of emotion she packed in 'orphan's' it sounded like she would cry. She gave me another knowing wink and continued "Left alone in the woods..."

I shuddered to think of any orphan's left alone in the woods in Brazil, and I paled at the thought of them being found by _Renesme_.

"Oh, dear... those poor children!" Mary exclaimed and I was startled to see our circle had grown-more shocked to see that it was filtered with young men, that I had thought were a rare species in this town-all of them staring and falling in love with Renesme.

We ended up staying two hours too many, Renesme texting Leah to alert her of the delay. As much as I had tried to enlighten Renesme on how extremely alien she behaved, she had turned the tables and enlightened me on how extremely weak it was to be human.

They were in love with her, they thought she was the messiah descended from the heavens to claim the lands as holy-or at least, she got two invitations for dinner with respected families and an army of admiring men. By the time we left-after Mary had begun inquiring about Carlisle and Jacob-I was educated in a few facts about vampirism that I had previously been speculating about.

"If you can be so nice to them, I don't see why you can't be nice to me" I said curtly. She was driving me back to the apartment, and then going to pick up Leah.

"There wasn't anything different to the way I treated them to you, Angela"

"They were fawning over you"  
"It's optional for you to fawn over me, Angela, simply because of what knowledge you have of me in your mind" she smiled. "All you have to do is erase the fact that I am a blood drinking half-demon being who the daughter of a being that terrorised you and then, you will be mentally free to fall under vampire charming"

"Vampire Charming?" I asked softly.

"Our scent, our appearance and presence" Renesme sighed. "It increases hormones in humans, makes them 'fall in love' with us in all manner of ways, not necessarily sexual just... easier to lure them in"

"But I like everyone but you" I stated. "I mean, everyone that I met"  
She was silent for a second, pulling the car into the car park. "You don't like me?"  
"Uhhh..."

"You don't like me" she settled, gripping the steering wheel. She was silent for a few seconds and I was trying to decide if I felt guilty or afraid in the moment. "You like my other family members-the ones you have met-because you don't associate them with Bella like you do me. It allows you to be entranced"

It sort of made sense, and I felt too bad about being so coarse about not liking her to bring up the fact that she could be irritating, obnoxiously cold and technical.

"But I associate Edward with Bella" I told her, trying not to think about how that association didn't seem to manifest with vampire Bella as much as human Bella-who had the hot boyfriend we were all secretly crushing on.  
"Edward doesn't have Bella's eyes" she whispered and then looked at me, sadness seeping in those very eyes "These eyes are my curse with everyone that I truly love... _besides_ Charles" she looked away then and sighed "Charles looks at me and thinks 'Mom' not Bella and not Isabella"

I knew the distinction immediately. Bella was human and Isabella had red eyes.

"You aren't a vampire" I said abruptly and she looked at me confused, her melancholy disarmed. "I mean, you aren't human...erm..."  
"I have had that talk with Leah" Renesme smiled.

"No, you don't understand" I sighed "You aren't either so you work as hard as you can to be perfect at one of them. And that's worse, you see. Edward, Alice and Carlisle... they aren't trying so they can just be vampires, and their humanity isn't so lost. Vampires who used to be human, because _all vampires _were humans"  
"Your point?"  
"You are a vampire who never was human" I whispered opening the door and stepping out "Maybe you can be a human who used to be a vampire?"

Xx~xx~xX

"Hello, Angela"

I froze, the door handle gripped in my sweating fist tightly. I contemplated skipping back out to the hallway and shutting the door, pretending like I hadn't walked in to my apartment and gazed on Charles standing casually in my living room.

"You are letting in a breeze" he chuckled weakly, chapped lips pulled over his teeth painfully.

"Hey Angela" Jacob's voice fleeted from the kitchen. "Charles and I were making pancakes, do you want some?"  
"What the hell is going on!?" I yelled, shutting the door eventually and taking a step to the left-well away from Charles and peering into my little kitchen at Jacob. He was covered in flour and whisking mixing dough and eating it at the same time.

"We are making pancakes" Jacob said in a tone that suggested I was mentally slow.

"You know what I meant!" I hissed and then jerked a thumb back at Charles-who was standing thin and tall in the lounge, holding the remote and flipping through channels.

"Well, that's a funny story" Jacob chuckled "But don't be afraid, he isn't interested in human blood" Jacob explained, pouring a dollop of batter in the pan and not helping my fears one bit. "And if he tried to chew on me, I'll whoop his ass"  
"I wont be chewing on anyone" Charles sighed wearily, settling himself on the couch.

"Well, he had better not!" I exclaimed "Renesme is coming with Alice and Leah"  
"That's fine, right buddy?" Jacob asked but Charles didn't respond, only jerked his head in affirmation.

"Well!" I breathed, looking from Jacob to his son and back to the messy kitchen. "We uh, better prepare then"  
"Prepare for what?" Charles asked with a frown.  
"It's Christmas eve" I said, pulling _my_ apron off of Jacob, having to stand on my tiptoes to get it over his head before he chuckled and assisted me by ducking out of it "Maybe we can have another dinner?"  
"Are you going to make loads of food?" Jacob asked, grinning and I tutted.

"You, Charles and I are going to make food" I clarified, trying to keep my voice pitch free-remembering Renesme and the balance of human and vampirism-making it all work involved a lot of 'no fear and acceptance'. "Erm, Charles... you going to help us in the kitchen?"

"Do I have a choice?" he grumbled and my insides unclenched-he was as human as Jacob and that was a million light years stretch from the Charles I had seen. That intense fear I had felt, that had spiked my adrenaline levels up was all a conjecture of my memory of the distinctly _other _Charles. Gone were the bright luminescent eyes, his form had somehow filled out into something that didn't look like it should be blown away by the wind and he had all too human bags and bruises around his eyes. He was still good looking in that Edward way that Renesme contained, but his skin wasn't so pale and hair much darker.

"Angela" Charles said softly, looking me dead in the eyes-no lights were in his eyes but there was _something_ still terrifying lurking in them "I apologise for my behaviour. I apologise for scaring you. I apologise for..."

"Look, you didn't really hurt _me_..." I smiled weakly "And in all honesty, I should be thanking you for saving my life"  
"Yes" he smiled gently, thoughtfully. "I saved your life, didn't I?"  
"Don't you remember?"  
"I don't ... no, not _quite_" he frowned and said quickly "What are we cooking, I haven't had anything to eat in like two months!"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

She keeps the house meticulous. She would make a perfect house wife for some ungrateful lout, I imagine. Some senator or equally big man, an alpha male that was _never_ at home and but needed something young and pretty at his side. He wouldn't need a show girl to hold the fort, but a proper dignified woman from a _good_ family. A sixties type of set up is exactly what would be required and Renesme is the surface epitome of it all. She would be in an apron, dusting and cooking, tending to the kids-the highlight of her day being her husband making it back from a gruelling day firing people, back home for supper.

This was all she wanted and it's funny that I was the only one who _ever_ realised it. College was optional to her, the degree and the PhD was _all_ optional because little miss perfect and beautiful just wanted to be a mother and a wife with a normal family. She wanted to be normal so badly that she got married and had a kid, and didn't even bother to _learn_ to be _normal_ _first_ before she did that.

"Alice" I sigh, plopping on the couch, beside her frozen form. She has a thin sheen of dust over her face. I guess Renesme didn't think it appropriate to wipe her aunt down when she was doing her house cleaning. "You and I need to have a little talk"

No response, but that's fine. I have a lot to say and not nearly enough patience to hear what petty little reason Alice has for sitting in that same spot for _days._

"Charles, you remember him... your nephew?" I say, staring at the switched off ancient television. She appears to be looking at it too. I can see her pale reflection in the shadowy screen. The light is filtering through the sheer curtains behind us, wind blowing the fabric about, but it's not nearly enough daylight to chase the gloom of the room away. "Well, he fed on your niece"

No response, save for a blink of an eye-which then swivels to look at me from the corner.

"Renesme gave him her blood" I say carefully, controlled. I hadn't seen it but I had heard it, the deep sucking sounds and weird moaning. I didn't know anything about vampire feeding and such, I had always bowed out of Jacob and Renesme's hunting trips and shied away from any images from Jacob but I knew enough that this was _bizarre_. "He can't feed from humans and animals, and it's all so very complicated but Renesme is certain he won't have the blood thirst like a vampire. It has to be a supernatural being he feeds from. But that's not the height of his problem; you see... the thirst for blood is but a peckish feeling to his taste for _venom_"

She is quiet but I know she can hear me loud and clear. "So you see Alice, your problems are pathetic in the face of all that!"

"You think I am being self obsessed!" she sings, breaking her trance and dust floating off of her as she snaps to face me "You think I am not thinking about him, about Renesme and my brother!?"  
"No, I don't" I tell her stiffly, ignoring the unpleasantness of her black hungry gaze. "Otherwise you would have been helping Renesme with Charles as best as you could, not _waiting for Jasper_..."  
"Why aren't _you_ helping her!?" Alice demanded, swallowing and her dark eyes shining with some form of moisture that could never fall as tears. "What with being his _imprinter _and all?!"

"He told Renesme I was as bad as the venom" I tell Alice softly, my face heating up and hearing zoning in on my pained heart. "And... there is some things that the imprint would be incapable of allowing"  
"Like what?" Alice asked in a hollow voice.

"Tough love" I whispered "I may have not... if he had asked me to give him... blood, I wouldn't..."  
"I understand" Alice sighed closing her eyes again and pinching her lips. "I _get_ it but don't think that I am like this because I don't care. Leah, Jasper is gone to some place were Edward came back in _pieces_. I can't see the future and that's the only way I know how to help. So, I was trying to see if I could work on that, trying to manipulate my gift-like how Charles and Edward's reach into telepathy extended into something other"

"You come up with anything of use sitting there, all _pretty_ like?" I tease her, feeling so exposed as the tears sting and push to fall over. They wont, they can't-because what will break me down to tears can never be this little tete a tete with Alice.

"Actually I did" Alice breathed, her lips quirking into a sad smile "I needed to concentrate, you see, and that was the real truth behind my immobility. Call it meditating vampire style, nothing like Edward's trauma stance. Something revealed itself eventually, about my gift"

"What was it?"  
"Intuition" Alice stated, then looked at me and I could see the hope in her eyes "_Intuition_ Leah, that's how my gift had started out I think, when I was human"  
"You think?" I repeated dubiously "When you were human? Right"  
"I don't remember a thing about my human life" Alice said quickly, indifferent to the fact "But I am sure that before I was a fully fledged seer, it must have started as a 'nudge', 'intuition' and the like. So, I had to get that back, Leah"

"Everyone has some level of intuition, Alice" I sighed "Not to burst your bubble"  
"But not many know how to work with it, not many know how to interpret a 'gut feeling' or a 'weird feeling', whatever you want to call it. You sense that something is wrong, but you don't know what it is. Now, because I already have the experience of being psychic, I know how to work with the clues"  
"So you are saying _what_ exactly?"  
"I am saying that I have found a way to work with a future where vampires and human's are infiltrated by werewolves, half-vampires and...erm, _Charles_"  
"What did you see?" I tried to keep my voice levelled "Did you see anything, or work out something?"  
"No, not yet" she frowned and got up casually, no stretching or stiff limbs-as though she had only been sitting there for a few minutes. "But... I think that today, I will be seeing Angela?"

"Not good enough, I spoke to Renesme about that around this yard" I leaned back watching as she did her 'medium' thing. She closed her eyes and crinkled her marble nose and in a few seconds, she sighed wearily.

"I think you are going to leave us" she announced and then in a less confident tone "To pursue a career in botany"  
"Your juju is whacked, Alice" I sighed caught between laughing and crying-this was all so surreal and more than I had hoped for at the same time. "But you are right, we are heading to Angela's today but I was thinking, and this is a stretch..."  
"Yes!" bellowed Edward from somewhere above us and Alice grinned, winking at me before dashing off, and silently flying upstairs to her brother.

"I was thinking we should all go to her small crappy apartment" I finished, smiling beside my self. "It is Christmas Eve, and no one should be alone in this solitude"

Xx~xx~xX

"You don't think it will be too much" Edward asked again and I groaned. He was either a very nice loving person...  
"The first one" he answered quickly.

Or having a major crush on Ms Unkept.

"I just don't want to terrify her with all this..." he sighed "Limbless business"  
"She has already seen you, Edward" Alice stated, moving things around the antic-that resembled a little apartment with couches and bright colours, courtesy of Renesme. "And it would be just as though you were a disabled human with a chunk of flesh missing from your face, there is absolutely nothing scary about that!"

"Let's find you a wheelchair, eh?" Alice chirped, some of the light returning to her. "I thought I saw something in the barn"  
"It was a wheel burrow" I sighed."  
"Maybe..."  
"I am not going in a wheel burrow, _anywhere_" Edward cut her swiftly. "Wrap me up in bandages and call me 'Mummy', but no wheel burrow Alice. If there is no wheelchair then there is no wheelchair"

"Charles is better" I cut their sibling thing and Edward smiled.

"I knew he would get better" he said softly "He is stronger than we give him credit"

"It's just thirst now" I said as calmly as I could manage "Renesme says it's more or less a manageable thing, like with any vampire. She thinks it will pass"  
"As soon as the venom is at a miniscule level..." Edward said "His wolf genes should increase over everything else and he will be back to... the way he was before we got here"

"That's all I want" I whispered "The old Charles"

But the Old Charles would always remember the taste of venom, the taste of blood.

There was no going back from that

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"Well, this is not strange at all!" Angela was nervous. I couldn't blame her one bit.

Not only was she the only human here, not only had she been practically kidnapped from Forks and stuck with a bunch of immortal fucked up people who could accidentally kill her at any second if their emotions were playing up but she was now having the weirdest second dinner with said fucked up people, trying to act like it was all not so fucked up.

This was fucked up.

"Is this mashed potato?" Renesme asked, opening the casserole dish and almost planting her face in the dish "It smells like... _starch_"  
"Nessie, _please_" Edward reprimanded. "Close the dish, you can't very well sniff something we are about to eat"  
"But we are not _all_ going to eat this" Renesme said innocently "And I don't think it can be constituted as _rude _if it is to dissect an interesting smell?"  
"Actually..." Angela said, her lower lip held firm-it seems she took my advice about not letting vampire half breeds bully her common sense "It really isn't polite to stick ones nose into any dish!"  
"Man that was a long way coming! Go Angela!" Jacob shrieked from the bedroom, storming out with a large grin on his face. A smile was playing on my lips, I couldn't be sure because in that moment Charles Black ambled from behind him-lean, pale and human looking.

My heart clenched and I was worried that this I was having some form of supernatural heart attack.

"Leah, _breathe_" Alice commanded from some blurry alternate reality because all I knew in that moment were his green eyes. My breath knocked out of me hard, and I felt that overwhelming feeling of detachment-like I could see myself standing behind the chair by the dining table, staring in wonder and astonishment at my reason for everything, moving and sane.

"Hello" Charles smiled gently, his eyes sad but alert-he was all there in the depths of that pain, all of him torn and mending "Leah"

"Charles" I don't know how I managed to sound so calm, I don't know how I managed not to knock all these other _miserable_ beings out of the way and launch myself across and hold him in my arms, or at least allow him to hold me in his. "You are..."  
"Here" he smiled again, broken and fractured but there he was. Standing, mobile, and not glaring at the world like it was one bleeding wound and he was the last vampire left. "It's Christmas Eve and I wouldn't be anywhere else"

"Yes" I smiled fully, and the tears fell-well, at least one fell. I didn't know what the other tear was for, the one my left eye stored away but I hoped it was for future joy and that was the only intuition I needed.

They were staring at us, Angela trying to comprehend something about Charles and I and he pricked her curiosity further when he strode swiftly around the dining table and reached me, standing in front of me like he was about to meld with me and reached his hand to my face and wiped the stray tear away from my cheek.

"Surprise" Jacob Black said but the joy wasn't all in his eyes. It was a distant feeling that I got seeing him in the peripheral of my vision, because once again and for always-I cared only for Charles in a way that ensured no other being could give me this joy and he realised that. Jacob knew it all along and all his efforts over the past weeks to make me smile were trumped by this one being in one second.

"Why don't we..." Angela began but Renesme rose up and did what I had feared she would do since we had arrived and found Angela possessed her own intuition and had prepared a dinner.

"Why don't we sit down and pray" Renesme said and Edward groaned in embarrassment, lolling his head and allowing Alice to pat his unruly hair.

"It involves a lot of patience" Edward murmured to Angela. "She is an only child, if you can understand"  
"Fully" Angela responded with as much natural grace as though they were talking about a five year old refusing to share a packet of crisps.

"Father, for what we are about to receive..." Renesme began. His hand fell over mine, much cooler than it had ever been but not ice fire. A thrill ran up my spine and my breath caught in my throat. He squeezed my hand and every dark thought melted through me and escaped into the ground. His skin was on mine and I thought I could feel his hand heat up slightly. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel his gaze on me-heating me up past what was preternatural to me, such an inferno couldn't be permitted in our current situation without making me feel like the most damned sinner available.

But it all subsided as the humming in my ears by the emotional overload cleared. There were other feelings to be felt, lurking beneath my shameful nervous system tingling. All I could think about was how intuition was a funny thing.

I was anticipating something right here, right now.

"We are truly thankful" Renesme's voice rang.

Something big was coming _my_ way.

"Amen" Nessie finished solidly.

If I had thought imprinting on Charles had been the resonance to my immortality, if I had thought Sam breaking my heart had been the death of my ability to love and Jacob imprinting on Renesme the confirmation that I was cursed from ever being happy-then this thing coming my way would sweep over all of that and challenge my beliefs.

"Amen" I said hoarsely.

The feeling, the anticipation could not be confused and distracted by his hand over mine even if he had caused it. I didn't like it. No, I don't think I liked it one bit.

"Let's eat!" Angela said quickly and Renesme frowned. "Nessie, you can have the potato bake first"

"I am..." Renesme began and Edward tutted.

"If you were so eager to smell it" he said "Then try it"

"Should I put some for you?" Angela offered, holding a dish of greens over Edward's clean plate. He looked terrified-actually terrified-and I had a feeling he would say yes.

"They don't eat" I said and I coiled at how technical my voice sounded.

"Oh, I had a feeling" Angela smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**It's long. It's Renesme. But believe me when I say there is method to my madness. **

**Xx~xx~xX**

_**THE GREATEST GIFT: part one**_

**Xx~xx~xX**

**RENESME**

**Xx~xx~xX**

When was it ever so simple...? It was about blood and power, and it was going to turn hopelessly fatal. Charles was in danger and it had nothing to do with his instability, failing to connect all three sides of his being. It had nothing to do with Leah, or Edward or even me at this stage.

It had everything to do with Nahuel. Charles every free second of peace was dependent on Nahuel's own haste when it came to returning to Joham.

"You really think he would return to Joham and not remain with Huilen?" Papa asked softly "Carlisle and Emmett are taking him _straight_ to Huilen, Nessie. He would want that, wouldn't he? To be away from Joham's grip"  
"South America... under Joham and Raul's terror, is not the safest of places for _vampires_" I said automatically. Nahuel knows his return to South America will not be unnoticed for long, and although he was selfish and reckless in his subconscious need to have the family he never had-this need lead him countless times to Joham, he loved Huilen with an affection he would have had had his mother been alive. It was nothing perfect and never shown this love for Huilen, but he wouldn't put her at risk-and staying with her would be doing just that.

"...And it all doesn't really matter; he wouldn't stay long with her because I doubt Huilen would be very forgiving towards Nahuel" I said, my throat dry. "I doubt that very much, she is a very... obdurate woman when it comes to offences"

"He may not say a _thing_" Edward said sternly but I didn't need to have his gift to hear the doubt turning in his mind. "He may not say anything about us, about what transpired. He be with Huilen and ask her forgiveness without mentioning us"

"He will do what I feared for so long" I whispered, ignoring Papa's wishful statement "He will tell Joham how far from bland and boring my son is. He will tell Joham about how Charles turned into a wolf and finally, and this will seal the deal-he will tell Joham about Charles blood and how it _tasted_, what it did to him"

"Don't think about it" Papa sighed "Nessie, maybe a little optimism..."

"Optimism?!" I growled. "Alice always tells me to _feel _both sides of the future lest I comprehend it all wrong!"  
"But you are feeling only one side!"  
"Because it out weighs everything else!"

"Okay, then" he looked at me sternly, his golden eyes beseeching me. I was almost afraid to allow his love for me to drench my cold self loathing, self loathing for putting them _all_ through this, and that love Edward had for me seemed to make me think it would all _somehow_ be okay "Fret and worry, you are a mother and maybe sometimes I forget that. But as your _father, _I must insist that you fret at a later day-maybe tomorrow. Today, we are as good a family as any other, human or otherwise and you are going to go and help Angela shop and maybe cook?"  
"Always I have to be her babysitter!" I frowned. "Leah should do it"  
"Leah and Charles probably have a lot to discuss" Edward frowned "Or at least, Leah is trying to move mountains to get Charles to talk to her about everything"  
"Jacob..." my voice cracked just the tiniest bit on his name.

"He is in a foul mood" Edward said grimly "And I wouldn't do that to Angela, put her in the vicinity of a teenage angsty Shapeshifter currently not in control of his emotions"

"Is it about Leah?" I asked him and Edward shook his head. His silly telepathic honour, never discussing other peoples intimate thoughts with me. "I know it is about her" I said anyway, but he made no reaction.

"You better get going" Edward said smiling a little "And do behave, Renesme. Be a little more human this Christmas?"  
"I am exactly half a human more than you, Papa" I laughed softly.

Xx~xx~xX

Papa's directness with every issue was alarmingly firm ever since he lost his limbs. One would think this would have been the logical reaction after Isabella left him but no! Back then, he had frozen and stopped tuning his piano in favour of being a garden ornament.

"You are very quiet today" Angela says. I preferred her when she wasn't so used to the supernatural and thought I was about to eat her.

"I have a lot on my mind" I tell her.

"What's that like?" she continues, her hand twirling in the air and gaze staring absently out to the passing world. She isn't complaining about my speed anymore, she isn't frowning so much either and I don't really care if it is because she hates me a little less.

I try hard not to care. I didn't want to feel like all of Bella's sins were hanging over my head, and Angela had a habit of bringing that out of me. This need to fall on my knees and beg for her forgiveness, for her to understand no harm was meant in _torturing her_. It was a little intimidating, to think that this one human endured where I couldn't. It left me with little to stand on when it came to self pity, and by God, self pity was everywhere.

I had lost so much, I had forfeited everything and there was no recovering it. I had to hold on to Charles... I couldn't let him drift from me. I didn't want to know what not having a purpose felt like. I didn't want to drown in the feeling of being _nothing..._

"You want to know what having thoughts feels like?" I ask her, deciding to leave out how idiotic that question was, I had promised to behave to some measure "I don't understand what type of answer you are searching for in that question?"  
"You sound like a robot"

"Your voice is slightly nasal" I tell her reflexively. She will never understand that this version of 'Renesme' is infinitesimally more of an improvement from the pre-Edward losing his limbs one. They worry about my humanity simply because I am not prone to crying at the drop of a tissue and have taken charge of my son's health with steely force, it frightens them that I am not so _weaned_ from human blood like I ought to be (and in an _inconvenient_ predicament of the hospital noticing their depleting blood bags, I had to force myself to _enjoy _some of Angela's cooking)

"Touché!" she grins and my lips jerk into a brief smile. "I whish I could do that, drive without looking at the road"  
"Of all the things you could want from a vampiric nature..." I smile gently "It's the art of multitasking"  
"I don't get how not looking at the road is multitasking"

"I suppose it isn't" I sigh "We have very set memories. Well, a full vampire does. I have to go through a route a couple of times before I know the turns and arches per half a mile. I have learnt this route though, let me show you"

I close my eyes and the image of the twirling highway immediately comes to the forefront of my mind. I can hear her heart beating quickly and I smile, one slight jerk of the car left to a white mailbox should give that pumping muscle a lovely jolt...

"Renesme!" she shrieks and I fail to hold in a series of awkward giggles. "That isn't funny... I am at a very _delicate_ age!"  
"All human's are at a _delicate_ age!" I state and she frowns, unamused. "You wouldn't be so terrified if you thought of a tree as but a feeble stalk of grass!"  
"But I don't!" she said sternly "A tree is but a _fucking _tree!"  
"Swearing doesn't suit you" I say.  
"Why, because you think I am old enough to be your great grandmother?" she asks wryly and I frown at her, she is back to hating me very fast-too fast indeed, even though I was trying against my pride to understand her. Nahuel always thought of humans as having feeble emotions, changing and altering so drastically whereas immortals needed trauma or _decades_ to go from melancholy to _mild_ sulking. Angela took offence from _everything_-as though being mortal was all _serious_ business, and unfortunately Papa agreed with everything Angela considered an insult, (and pointing out facts fell into the insult category too, apparently).

"You are in your early forties" I tell her "You are currently only old enough to be my mother. Maybe in another twenty years, you can claim _grandmother_?"  
"Charming thoughts to muse over later" she keeps up her dreadful subtle derision and I give up, turning the car into the shopping centre without another word to Angela's sulking self.

Xx~xx~xX

We arrive just as the store opens and Angela's mood brightens.

"This will give us enough time to cook an adequate Christmas meal" she chirps, already popping things into the trolley without reading the nutrition table. She may not live to look like my grandmother after all, with her slack eating habits.

I walk quietly beside her as she manages pushing the trolley and piling food into it alone. She keeps sending me irritated looks, which I ignore-I am silently rebelling against Edward's bossing and letting her multitask. She did express an interest in it...

"Who is 'us'?" I ask her and she freezes.

"Erm, I will need help with the cooking...? Jacob is in a mood and Leah and Charles are doing some weird dancing around each other and can't notice the world turning"

"So Alice is helping you?" I ask her.

"Alice says she hates cooking"

"What makes you think I like cooking?"  
"You like cooking...! It's so obvious!" she pauses and grins slyly "You like cooking, it's just that you don't know _how_ to cook"  
"I am a vampire hybrid" I snap "I know how to do _anything_ if I set my mind to it!"  
"Set your mind to being human, then"  
"Are you and my Papa having secret parleys?" I ask her, boring into her eyes. She blinks rapidly and her heart stutters and I want nothing more than to squeeze the gooey muscle. I lean away from her short form and frown "I apologise. I haven't fed in a few days"

"Yes, your eyes are a darker brown!" she chuckles nervously, struggling to push her trolley straight. I grab the front and tug it easily and she lets go, stretching her back. I hear a distinct click from her spine but she smoothes out of her stretch easily, not paralysed or broken.

"And I am paler, that's how you can tell with me" I tell her, watching her curiously, she squirms under my gaze "Not that my skin tone will be very perceptible to you, but I don't blush as freely. It's important to tell these things, if you associating with vampires"

"So next time you and Alice are cranky, I'll put it down to vampire pmsing?"

"Thirst" I say slowly "Call it _Thirst_, not vampire pmsing; you will offend a lot with that little phrase. With regards to me, there is not nearly enough game in these parts and I don't feel comfortable going further when I am alone. Half vampires fair much better than vampires when it comes to thirst though, so I can do with a few more days before my crankiness becomes unbearable..."

"Why don't you go with Alice?"  
"I am not very close with Alice" I tell her deciding that there was no need to add that I wasn't close to anyone either than Papa at the moment. I picked up a brightly coloured box of choc chip cookies and made a show of reading the table downplaying the unhealthy treat, hoping she would find an interest and do the same with her food choices.

"I don't think she will mind, even if you aren't that close" she says innocently.

"Hunting is a... bonding experience" I tell her. "We are at our most primal then, and having slight discomfort or tension with someone can be trebled radically when you surrender to your instincts"  
"What happens when Charles feeds from you?"

"I don't know" I say quickly, a strange anger and irritation erupting in me at her mention of that. I throw the box in the trolley with concentrated effort, lest my emotions send it crashing through her tins and packets. She immediately takes it out. I watch her closely and try and explain the sensation of having Charles feed from me without being swallowed up by shame and discomfort "I just think of it as nursing him, but it is _inappropriate_. It was a simple necessity, at the time"

"Right" Angela breathes, taking out the second box of biscuits I throw in the trolley.

"What is your problem?!" I demand, placing a random box inside angrily and crushing it in the process.

"We are going to make our own cookies and treats!" she says quickly, looking genuinely afraid, her scent sweetening with the little surge of adrenalin.

"I haven't said I am cooking with you!" I snap.

"Do you want to cook with me?" she smiled carefully and it is near impossible not to agree. Angela may be human, but she has a disposition that struggles against lying or fake sincerity-the down side being her inability to hide dislike or unease. She was those rare specimens of a _really_ good person.

"You cook to cope with being around all this weirdness" I tell her and her eyes widen. "It reminds you of a time when you were happy. I am thinking in your childhood or teen years? Did you do a lot of looking after people then?"  
"A robot _and_ a psychologist?" she laughs tensely "Maybe you can counsel yourself?"  
"A doctor can't perform his own surgery" I sigh. "And I do have a Masters in Psychology"

"Now isn't that ironic!" she says sardonically, pushing the trolley against my steady hand holding the front. I give her an indicative look and she sighs and rolls her eyes "Do you mind, Renesme? We are working against time, here"  
"Where too?" I ask her and she releases the handle of the trolley and shoves her hands dejectedly into her pockets.

"Frozen food section" she mutters. "And I did have a good childhood, even if my mother died"  
"Your mother died and you had to care for your siblings" I say thoughtfully. "You have two siblings?"  
"I didn't say anything about siblings to _you_" she states coolly, surveying a packet of frozen chicken pieces. She is radiating discomfort, her mouth pursed and breathing stiff. She doesn't like that I know this and that actually bothers me.

She doesn't trust me.

There are some humans in the store now, ambling through the aisles and gawking at me while Angela processes something in her strange mind.

"Oh, Papa must have said" I say softly.

"He _must_ have said?" she frowns at me "I thought your memory was titanium?"  
"I tune out some of Edward's babble about your teenage _wonderful_ self" I sigh, ignoring her curious gaze at the mention of 'Edward'. She looks past me to the right and frowns. I hear feeble steps over the linoleum and a weak heart beat.

"It's Nana Snow Hair" Angela mumbles, busying herself with a row of marinades. Picking them up but so obviously not reading anything and in a contradicting instruction to her bumbling form she says "Act natural, maybe her Alzheimer's will kick in and she wont remember us"  
"You shouldn't joke about Alzheimer's" I tell her sternly "You may have it soon, too"

She drops the bottle and glares at me, offended so easily.

"You are lucky that was a plastic bottle" I tell her and there is a soft tutting from behind me.

Nana Snow Hair.

"Oh, isn't this lovely" Nana croaks and I groan internally. Humans were at their most irritating when they were either too young or too old. Comprehension was a useful tool... "Mother and daughter shopping! Are you going to cook a meal? You are awfully late, you know, to be preparing today! You are lucky Bobby keeps the store open till noon otherwise... it would be a sad Christmas!"

"Uh huh" Angela plasters a grin on her face and blinks stupidly at the old woman. "This is... Ren... Ca... rile"  
"Argh, still a strange pair" the old woman tuts, shuffling away from us "Have a merry Christmas!  
The moment the old woman makes her way to what can only be her nephew, Angela releases a sigh of relief.

"What is your fear of the old?" I ask her.

"Fear...?"  
"You are terrified of Mary, and intimidated by Lucy" I tell her.

"You really should learn to be respectful" she side tracked, moving from the fridges in a storm "R.E.S.P.E.C.T, find out what you mean to me!"  
"You say I am strange!" I sigh, shaking my head and Angela laughs.

Xx~xx~xX

"Did you ever celebrate Christmas when you were younger?" Angela asks. She looks at me quickly, smiling a little while chopping the carrots. I can hear the television in the attic-Papa is watching something, a movie I suppose, and the sound of it merging with Angela's normal heart and everyday activities is too sweet.

"Of course" I say and I see her lip pinch just the tiniest bit at my curtness "I mean, _yes_... I did. It's just you assume my being half vampire means the notion of ever having happiness in my life is unfeasible"  
"Well, it isn't!" Angela snorted, shaking her head. "Not from what I have seen"  
"What _have _you seen?" I asked her, peeling the tomatoes carefully. I had soon discovered that cooking required a lot of human slow procedures. Three of my tomatoes hadn't faired well when I attempted to rid them of skin in seconds, and they were currently sitting gloomily at the edge of Angela's soup ingredients.

"I don't know" she shrugged her shoulders and looked at me with humour in her brown eyes-a far away look gracing her features "Vampires flying around, my blood gushing out all over the place and an emaciated half-wolf and half-bat boy incapable of moving... hardly the sight to suggest normal Christmas once a year?"

"Don't call my son half-bat" I threatened and she shrugged her shoulders again. "I did have normal Christmases, well... normalish. A tree, presents..."

"Right" Angela breathed, pushing butternut over to my work station and handing me a peeler.

"Jacob gave me the most normal Christmas once, but Leah ruined it naturally. She was quite mean to me before Charles" I said, peeling the butternut in seconds and placing it at the edge of my board, satisfied that it faired well with my strength and speed.  
"You know, I have been meaning to ask you..." she begun and I smiled knowingly.

"You have been meaning to ask me or you were waiting for an opportunity to ask me this _thing_?" I asked her and she pressed her lips and puckered them out, an odd gesture she did.

"A little of both" she explained "I was waiting for you to shed some of your frozen Barbie image"  
"You mean a break in my humanity?"  
"Whatever you want to call it" she said a little impatiently, she wanted to get to her question first.

"You say I am too much like a vampire" I said, ignoring her badly concealed impatience on that particular subject "But I say I am _guarded_-and its something that has helped me, saved me even... countless times"

"I agree, you turn to your vampirism to protect your humanity because it's probably more fragile than even my own!" she said hurriedly, twirling her hand for us to move over that topic. I stared at her bemused, not because her words were accurate but because I had never thought of a reason that could be summed up as that.

"Anyway!" Angela sighed, placing her knife on the counter top and leaning back, arms folded over her chest and face all business like "I want to know about... you know... you and Jacob"  
"Me and Jacob?" I asked her, caught between a frown and a smile-I had been about to make fun of her, something to do with the frown line between her eyes that had popped up when she had been scowling.

"Yes" she said looking at me indicatively and twirling her hand again, insinuating I was being mentally slow about her question "You two were together once"  
"You are interested in my love life?" I asked her.

"It can hardly be called that!" Angela laughed "Seeing as how it was in the past and Jacob says he doesn't know you"

My expression settled immediately into a vicious scowl, the suddenness of my anger and misery crashing over me so that I momentarily stopped breathing, blood pounding in my ears. She stared at me confused and then comprehension hit her, eyes wide and apologetic on my face, unable to hide the fear in them or the quivering in her voice "I mean..." Angela spluttered, swallowing a little. Her many pauses gave me enough time to push away the image of _my_ Jacob smiling at me and promising to love me forever, to push that dreadfully precious image somewhere far back in my mind so that I too, could pretend to have amnesia.

"You mean exactly that" I said stonily and she flinched. "He doesn't know me and it is in the past. There is no love life to speak of, so there is no need to ask me anything on that"  
"It's just a bit of history" Angela squeaked "If you don't want to talk about it, I will apologise for mentioning it"  
"You had better, because it meant..." I said, stuck on the word 'nothing'. I tried again, willing the indifference to spill out "What was between Jacob and I meant..." again, I was incapable of saying it.

"It's okay" Angela whispered and I was suddenly angry at her for producing this weakness in me. I frowned at her, determined to say it out loud and taking in a breath, I stood tall and firm.

"What happened between Jacob and I meant _absolutely_..." my mouth hung open and my eyes were covered in a hot red blanket of pain. They stung, but I failed to register the meaning of the ache and continued to repeat the whole sentence save for the ending word.

"It meant..." I spluttered and the tears fell, Angela looking up at me in concern, her hand hovering unsure between us. "It wasn't..."  
"Nessie, I am sorry. We don't have to talk about that, you don't have to explain anything to me... here, let me show you how to make cookies"

I pushed her lightly away and she went crashing into the sturdy marble island but was unhurt. "I will say it!" I hissed, wiping my face viciously and glaring at her. She didn't look scared although she should be, and I thought so suddenly that Edward had been worried about the unstable wolf, forgetting his unstable daughter...

"Don't you see?!" I asked her and she shook her head left and right stiffly, the fear still devoid from her face and this irked me because a soft warm pity crept into her eyes instead "If he can say it then I have to say it! If he can feel..." it was just a silly word, a word that meant zilch, nonentity... but it was worse than any cuss word so suddenly, I was sure if I uttered it I would be swallowed by hell "If he can't feel _anything_..." I said instead "Then I too, should be the same!"

"You love him?" she asked and I looked away from her, face hot and I was sure red, my heart squeezing painfully. I didn't answer her; I didn't answer my self and I finally said with soft conviction that burned my insides up into tar.

"I mean nothing to him" I said to her "I am _nothing_"  
There was a moment of silence, the television in Edward's room humming too softly for her to ever hear and I realised I didn't care that he was listening. He would have put two and two together from my thoughts by now.

"What you want to know is about the past, our history... but the man you want to know this about doesn't exist anymore. I hope you understand that. I would be telling you about a Jacob I once knew, who died and was replaced by this impostor"  
"I don't think you believe that the Jacob who exists now is an impostor" she said quietly, the way people talk as though they are not in the same room as you, as though you are not having a conversation but a simple monologue, were their voice sounded like your conscious.

"You want to know about Jacob and I because of Leah and Charles?" I asked her and she controlled her expression. "I am only at liberty to tell you _my story_ and not theirs_._ And actually, I don't think I want to tell it"  
"I think you _do_ want to tell it" Angela said "I think you know, as only a psychologist does... that telling me would release you from this fear, this realisation that you are nothing to Jacob and only then could you ever find another way to be attached to him, or to break away. Whichever one you choose... but as long as the past Jacob is the only Jacob you know, this one will always seem to be the impostor. Don't you see, you have to know this Jacob first... because he was the one that existed first"  
Her saying this hurt, of course but it was nothing to cause anger because she was being entirely objective and that was something that was so rare in my life. No one ever looked at me and decided to either love me or hate me because of facts... it was all a corrupted system. They were either forced to love me for being my family, of forced to hate me because of my nature. Loved for being a Cullen, hated for being Bella's... no one ever just loved _me..._ but how could they when I wasn't _anything_ without the words 'Cullen', 'Bella', 'Jacob's Imprint' or 'Half Vampire' attached to me.

"I knew Jacob since I was born" I told her "He knew me since then too"

"You didn't grow up together" she said shakily, like she was afraid to offend someone about something "What I mean is, he was already... he was an adult, more or less"  
"Exactly" I said, finally looking at her. I perched on the table top and she did the same opposite me, crossing her full legs over each other before pushing her glasses up warily, her mind working over time with each release of information.

"How could you have ever hoped to be normal" she whispered, thinking I wouldn't hear her, I supposed because her tone had changed so drastically into something demurely raw, her pity not so offensive but distracting-I felt like I hadn't known her at all. Like I had not understood her in all our time, in this moment as she stared at her twitching legs and shook her head, working up to the next question.

"Maybe that was why he got amnesia" she said suddenly, looking at me with large distressed brown eyes. I realised she was beautiful, as tired and human as she was, she had something distinctly exotic about her. Her face wasn't delicate, her features bold on the canvass and her body _always _hidden behind something loose and too large-she was beauty, she had compassion and it didn't need to be thrown into the air ostentatiously. It needed to be found, by the _deserving_...

I wondered if Papa had found it, after over looking all those years ago in favour of something thrown and flung his way with ostentatious intentions... I bet he had. I wasn't so lost in my worry for Charles not to notice it.

"He got the amnesia to forget" she said, nodding her head. "It wasn't _normal_ and he knew it. It wasn't normal..." she paused and she said with such uncustomary violence, her hand slamming down hard on the table "It wasn't normal! You were a baby and he was really a kid then, even if he was in a man's body!"  
"You have misunderstood" I said hurriedly but she was so lost in her rage, looking remarkably dangerous in her righteous indignation at her misunderstanding of the imprint as some paedophilic inducing drug.

"You were a kid!" she said "Nessie, you were a kid!"

I looked at her confused, suddenly wanting to let her believe this because her emotions were like a brightly coloured rainbow, and there she was opposite me; angry and upset, wanting to protect me almost...

But I couldn't.

"He didn't see me that way" I said and then added timidly "At first"  
"At first!" she spat, her hair waving as her head snapped left and right, as though looking for someone to witness with her the incredulity of it all. And it did sound incredulous.

"The wolves find their soul mates through this _thing_" I told her softly, gently-stupidly trying to save Jacob's deference "It's called imprinting. They see her, their soul mate, and she becomes everything they need in this tangible world. She anchors them, she... she is their _everything_. They will be anyone for her, be it brother or friend... or lover. Whatever she needs"

She stared at me blankly, like I had just announced that everyone else was mad and the world was really flat after all, and we would all either fall of its edge or be cut by its sharpness. "You are serious?" she asked me "Imprinting... like baby ducks do?"  
"Erm, yes" I whispered.

"Well" Angela breathed, still looking at me dubiously "That changes everything then doesn't it?"  
"It shouldn't" I told her softly and she frowned further, confused and seemingly to decide that after my being a 'robot', I was also delusional and living in my own mind. "I could show you, Angela"

"Show me?"  
"With my gift..." I told her, smiling a little and praying she would see that she could trust me like she already did Leah-who she had only met twice in comparison to me. I waved my hand in the air indicatively "I could show you some of my memories, my past... the old Jacob, the one you have never met"  
"Hmm" she stared at my hand distrustfully but jumped off the table top clumsily, and taking a tentative step towards me, she said... "Nothing is more dangerous than the past, I think"  
"How right you are" I whispered holding her warm calloused hand in my own gently before wrapping my fingers around her wrist "But I... I realise, that I don't want my past to hurt anyone. To hurt you, Angela. And I think... I would be willing to make sure it doesn't ever come to such a conclusion if it did come to that"

She smiled at me a little and this time my lips twitched instinctively into a smile that was so old and forgotten, it managed to throw me into an uncustomary shyness.

"Let me tell you about my imprinter, the man who used to challenge me to swimming competitions across large lakes..."

Xx~xx~xX

I let a string of memories slide over each other at first, ignoring her gasp at having her mind taking over by the images and emotions, before I slowed them down to specifics. Nothing too drastic, we were going for subtlety-she had to put it all together herself.

Xx~xx~xX

There was once a time when Jacob Black had refused to go hunting with me. Remember what I told you hunting was like for vampires? How raw our every emotion became...? I had been physically sixteen at the time, hopelessly infatuated with Jacob and dealing with a mother who at one turn encouraged that emotion and then another turn asked me if I didn't want to go visit my friends of the Amazon... to visit another like me, Nahuel.

The imprint makes it difficult to see your other half miserable, to see them in any negative emotion. It is easily manipulated but only by the imprint... the imprinter is too pure for such sin, for such wretched devices. It's like the imprinter is your Jesus and you go against them for a taste of temptation, willingly submitting because you know at every turn they will forgive you. They have to, because surely that's why they exist? To Forgive you and wash away your sin...

Anyway, I went hunting with Jacob and my meal wasn't enough because Jacob had been there. I was thirsty for all _sorts_ of things as only a vampire can be... and Jacob turned into the one embodiment of _all_ these things-the blood, the love, the sex...

And he let me bite him and take a little drink, or maybe I seduced him to do it... it doesn't matter once more because that Jacob _let me do that._ And this Jacob would sooner cut his wrist and bleed out than let anyone take a _little_ sip...

I am putting it together all wrong, I am aware but there are things I have to keep to my self. I'll tell you about how being loved by a wolf feels like and what it did to me. Jacob was perfection-yes, Jesus-and I was imperfection, just like you... a mere human. And lust, thirst, and a variety of other emotions felt so wicked to have for him but I had them anyway. He was my brother, he was my friend... he was the only one who knew me as the person I was, the person that I don't even think my mother knows about... Papa, barely saw a glimpse of that girl. Leah, oh, she was always too perceptive and that's why she is my oldest friend. My only friend... and even then, I am imperfect with her because I have all these other wicked emotions for her but that's another story for another time... maybe.

Angela, I once was a girl inside of this vampiric body-a girl who was shy, a girl who didn't like to be stared at and a girl who liked to hide in comfortable nooks and warm corners. I hated the curls in my hair, I hated that I looked so beautiful and would never tan but most of all... I hated that the boy I loved was my brother, the boy I loved was my friend and by the time he lay with me, I hated him almost as equally as I loved him and when she told me he had loved her first...

Oh, what else could I have done but throw that fucked up little girl who was scared of everything and anyone, who liked to hide in corners and pretend she didn't exist even if her mother and aunts put her in the middle of the world-what else could I do but burn that pathetic virgin bitch to ashes?

Xx~xx~xX

Angela pulled away, and I realised she had been tugging desperately for a few seconds. I released her and she stumbled backwards. She stared at me with something odd, an intensity of numerous emotions, her eyes red and mouth dry.

"Do you want me to continue?" I asked and she nodded automatically, waving the hand I had been holding and I saw a slight bruise on it.

"It's... your emotions in me..." she said parched, smiling slightly feverishly but more through despair and pity for me than anything else. "That... I can't hold that in me, Renesme. I am sorry for being weak"

"You are strong to want to know" I told her "No one has ever _wanted_ to know"

"Not your mother?" she asked, licking her lips. She looked up and raised an eyebrow. Not Edward, she seemed to ask and I was about to remind her that he was a telepath when I heard a soft 'No', from him.

"Not anyone" I repeated then. "Not even Leah. Shall I continue then?"

"You seem to speak of three people, when you speak of yourself" Angela said softly, rubbing her bruised wrist. I wanted to apologise for harming her but my heart was thudding with excitement from reliving a few of those many dangerous moments in my short life as an immortal-the dangerous points were always the emotional ones.

"I speak of two" I said "The shy girl they never knew about and _me_"  
"No, there are three" she repeated vehemently "You are correct about the two 'you's. The one you know of, the Renesme is really the old you-and I think I would be correct in saying that it was the old you from before Jacob Black broke from the imprint. You know, the girl who wanted the attention, the girl who could be so cruel and selfish?"

I nodded for her to continue.

"And then the other girl, the shy girl who was behind the vampire Renesme. The one who no one knew of save for the long lost Jacob Black and the one Leah suspected lived inside the beauty and brown eyes. The inhibited girl, the introvert and shadow. But Nessie, you surely don't thin you are standing here today after everything that has happened _unaltered_? You surely don't think you could ever be the same? Sure, you think you burnt the shy girl to ashes when Isabella told you of Jacob's love for her, but maybe you just scared her into hiding. And she isn't nearly strong enough to ever resurface but when the veil of your mother was lifted... I think she attached herself to the vampire. I think you are both of them. A third-a combination"

I looked at her in confusion, trying to process her words but I left it in the air. We would return to it at one point-it sounded too much like Edward's grumbling about my humanity being somewhere other than my vampiric side.

"Your gift is amazing!" Angela laughed nervously "To feel what you feel when you speak of thirst, to feel that _love_ and _hate_ you had for Jacob, to _see _someone look at you like that! The way he _looked_ at you..." she trailed off, lost in her mind or in the memory of the 'revealing beauty of the soul' look of an imprint.

"I think it was inevitable" I scoffed at the memory, tarnishing it for my own sanity-it felt like I had possessed a diamond without knowing it, and tossed it into the trash after thinking it was a rock for so long "I was heading that way since I was born. Since he looked at me, he should never have looked at me... he should have either killed me or ran!"

"So it's his fault?" Angela asked, back to being a psychiatrist.

"Fault?" I asked. "I wouldn't say that... we were all tied together in some way, tied together to _destroy_ each other"

"I don't think so" Angela said smiling again. She seemed like she was about to ask me to show her something else, mesmerised by my gift as she was. She looked up at me, still smiling softly and said so gently and tenderly I felt my self weep inside and grow a warm strong emotion for her that set hold in my heart and attached her to me "I think we are tied to together in fate, to save each other. Don't you see...? The destruction has _already_ passed us, Nessie, and here we stand!"  
"I never took you to be a romantic" I said but the humour failed me and it came out derisive instead of playful.

"The way you show his love for you..." she murmured absently, mesmerised by the magic of the imprint she had felt through me "The love you had... how that could end, impossible! I understand what you implied, that he would forgive you even after you had sinned... like he was your Jesus even though he thought you were his very God! He never knew the power he had over you..."

"No" I said. "He was too blinded by the hurt I managed to bring him"  
"But that's all you knew!" she said "That was what you were taught"  
"What, if I was taught to bring about love instead of hurt?" I asked her "By whom? And to what purpose, he would never have truly chosen me"

"You can only be taught to bring about _pain_" Angela said and then so sombrely her expression changed and the lovely flush of emotion turned blotchy and sour "But love, Nessie... you can't be taught about love. It happens upon you, and the imprint can force it into existence but it is an entity on its own and it will fight against all of _that_ to remain free. Love is wild, love is gratis, love is untameable"

"I tamed it" I told her evilly "I tamed it through the imprint"  
"And what did it bring to you?" she asked "Pain?"  
"Charles" I ended smiling "And I can't be even a little sorry for doing it"

"Imprint" she said thoughtfully and I could tell she understood more than she ought to, but wouldn't let me know this. "But it seemed so... permanent and powerful"  
"It is" I told her "That is why I have to be the witch, to the Quileutes. That is why I am the witch, which is why that little innocent girl can't exist in me anymore if I am so evil... such a power kills when broken! When a wolf's imprint dies, do you know what happens to the wolf?"  
"What?" Angela asked spooked.

"He follows her soon after!" I laughed wickedly, slapping my thigh. "Renesme Cullen, oh she is such a witch to love another man and pull Jacob through the burning fires..."

"But you didn't have a choice" Angela said "When she told you about how she was his _true choice _to love... how could you ever return to him?"  
"Because he was imprinted to me!" I shouted too loudly, my vampire voice wobbling the glass of the kitchen windows slightly. Angela seemed to be shocked into remembrance of every activity she had been doing before my tale was a quarter spun out and rushed over to her pot, taking a spoon and stirring the contents before sending me a look to continue. "I wasn't allowed to feel betrayed! And how I dared to even feel that way, she said to me... my mother, when she thought she didn't really need Jacob anymore after all! How dare I, Isabella said to me... how dare I even be angry at poor Jacob for something he wouldn't have known, he would never have known I would come to exist!"  
"But there is truth in that..." Angela said and then I raised a finger to stop her.

"And then, my mother the full vampire suddenly contracted amnesia!" I laughed. "Oh, Jacob! He was suddenly explicitly hated, how dare Jacob feel pity for himself! How dare he not give me freedom to love as I choose!"  
"So you loved Nahuel?"  
"I loved him..." I took in a breath, bitterly admitting "Eventually. Sometimes, you fall in love through the most ugly situations"  
"I don't think you fell in love with Nahuel" Angela said and then paused, thoughtfully "I don't think you even know what falling in love is! So to clarify, you love Nahuel-but you were never in love with him. Because love... its indecisive and severe, as it chooses-fickle or irrevocable"

"Because it is free" I said absently. "Love is free, it does as it chooses... like the wind, blowing as it would but with preconceived purpose while we remained thinking it was but an intoxicated spirit"  
"Hmm" she smiled, visibly confused. "Exactly what I was thinking"  
"So Jacob and I..." I said, watching her go about the kitchen casting me curious absorbed gazes "We were the worst imprint match imaginable"  
"I don't understand one thing?" she asked "I mean, it is permanent. I felt that... its so... real and full, and immovable. Even when you were talking about Nahuel, it was like... Jacob was behind everything"  
"He was" I said "Being with Nahuel was being with Jacob-he was secretly my Jacob. The Jacob that wasn't imprinted to me but loved me of his own will"  
"Right" Angela nodded "But still, it is permanent-the imprint?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Jacob doesn't love you," she said "If it is permanent, it shouldn't matter about him having amnesia surely, because it transcends everything"

"He has amnesia because of it" I said "Well, at least I _think,_ it isn't there anymore so why should he have to remember anything to do with it"  
"To love him that way and have him never know that love" Angela said thoughtfully "The cruelty of karma"  
"Karma, she is, quite cruel" I agreed "But... I have to say, I have to _admit_... even though he hates me, _this_ Jacob. It is the most rewarding pain I have ever had, to see him free and young, and not brooding and tormented; wondering about his dulled love for Bella due to the imprint and then his intense addictive _obsessive_ love for me, the girl he raised"

"So there is no imprint?" Angela asked.

"Not for him" I whispered. "And I take my punishment without a complaint; I deserve the pain"

"What would you know!" Angela laughed and I frowned at her in confusion, she sighed and quickly elaborated her mirth "I mean, you only know pain. Of course you would submit to it with not a single fight against it!"

"Oh, come now Renesme" a ringing voice pulled my attention from Angela as she continued to speak, Edward hissing violently from above us "I bore you from _love_"  
"...and I think that sort of connection can't just die and erase itself from a person; there are lingering things from the imprint in Jacob..." Angela was saying but I had moved two tentative steps towards the window, fear welling inside me and churning my stomach nauseatingly. I touched the gauze, my whole body thrumming with adrenaline and dread.

"... he is a boy, he is a kid" Angela was oblivious to the ghosting movements heading our way, or the low string of murmurs translating to prayer that Edward was emitting. "And you are too. Don't you see, once again? We have saved each other... you saved Jacob, Renesme. When you defied that love, that addictive emotion from the imprint... you freed both of you, and through the pain..."  
"How right you are" Isabella entered through the small kitchen door casually, draped in black and mahogany hair pulled tightly above her head "Ever so wise, Angela. Through pain, there can be freedom. Like any little rebellion, eh? Pain, struggle and then freedom?"

She stood before us, poised and marble with her head tilted to the side in an inquisitive manner and her small hands clutched elegantly in her front. I registered Angela's stuttering heart beat and scent filling the air dangerously with the sweetener of adrenaline laced blood, I heard Papa saying something in a mixture of fury and terror but it all didn't matter because behind Isabella... Jane walked in.

I was vaguely aware that I had repositioned myself in front of a terrified Angela-her eyes so wide and skin so pale, she may as well have stopped breathing and thrown her heart on the floor already.

"And what was that bit about love being free?" Jane asked, tone bored. She placed a finger on her chin and looked at Isabella "So she has gone through the pain to set them both free from something that wasn't of their choosing...?"

"Exactly..." Mother nodded, smiling sweetly at me.

"So they have rebelled" Jane continued.

"No, Jane... _Renesme_ has rebelled" Mother said quickly, reproaching Jane mildly "Jacob never stood a chance"  
"She rebelled and never realised how much she needed the tyranny of this... the imprint, you say... and only after the _dog _didn't give a damn did comprehension hit her hard, but it was too late?" Jane murmured and mother nodded. "How _fascinating_"

"But Angela is giving her hope, aren't you Angela?" Mother said Angela's name with such disgust, I immediately knew that Angela was in grave danger. Red eyes gleamed past me to the human with a terrified heart beat, but Jane's remained looking at me before swivelling curiously up... to Papa.

"Where is Alice" I asked suddenly, call it intuition but I knew they had the answer.

"I told her Jasper was waiting for her in Italy" Mother said casually, as though she were relaying but a feeble inconsequential message. "And Alec was just the sweetest, wasn't he Jane, offering to escort her as he did?"  
"That's my brother" Jane appeared to smile but just as suddenly, her expression resumed its bored disposition that I was sure had been carried through for centuries. "So sweet..."

"He could rot your teeth" Mother spat. "Like your father and his never ending masochistic crap, seems you inherited it too. Pining for a dog that has moved on to a bitch"

"What have you done with Alice?" I asked again-Charles was with Leah, and I prayed Jacob was there too.

"I told you , Ness" Mother sighed irritably "She is off to Italy to Jasper"  
"Jasper isn't in Italy" I murmured.

"Well, he most certainly isn't here!" she laughed, looking over to Jane. They knew most of the family wasn't here, but they didn't know about South America or what had transpired otherwise their arrival would have been much more... intense. Isabella wasn't in contact with Joham, or maybe Joham didn't know about Nahuel and I leaving with the Cullen's. How one sided had I been about the future, forgetting all about Aro and Caius. I waited for her to let something slip while she did the same with me but it was Jane who broke the silence.

"Where is your father" Jane asked "I thought he would be either sucking his thumb in a corner or on his knees begging for his wife to return"  
"Where is Edward" Mother asked and I begged father to remain silent "I heard him professing his love for me not a second ago-lambs and lions and the such?"

I remained silent. Jane was watching me closely, before scowling at the back of mother's head.

"_Don't_" Mother murmured to Jane, never looking at me but surveying the trays of food on the island. "But I have no qualms about the human"  
"Angela" Edward murmured and Mother's eyes shot up to the ceiling, and as I was torn between my father and Angela-I remained frozen.

Isabella moved like light out of the kitchen, and Angela choked on pain behind me, her heart shuddering and throbbing sultrily. I tried in vane to cover her from Jane's sights, willing the pain to come to me but Isabella had, like she had said countless times, sacrificed too much to just allow me to throw my life to ruin without her permission.

Shielding Angela with my body didn't help, and Jane soon grew tired of her games and attacked us both as a high cruel cackle came from the attic. I was flung off Angela easily, and sent crashing through the island and into the wall, watching Jane latch on to Angela's throat all while keeping her cruel gift charging up Angela's mind and marinating her blood with adrenaline from the imagined pain and the sound of breaking bones filled the air... I made a silent prayer.

Angela thought we were all connected to save each other, and as useless as I knew I would be in saving both her and my father, I made a silent prayer to my God, and prayed he would answer me.

Behind me I heard heavy paws punishing the earth and I released a breath and smiled-I wasn't forgiven but I was allowed to atone forever. Two sets of four, and there was no wrath greater than God's and here come two Gods.

I rose stiffly from the rubble and before I rushed through the kitchen and flew up the stairs to my mother and father, I startled Jane. She stopped her feeding, watching me closely and perceived me to be indifferent to the most _precious_ human I had ever come across-and it was only this indifference that made the small powerful girl drop Angela to the ground while her heart still remained beating.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHARLES BLACK**

**Xx~xx~xX**

They say three heads are better than one.

My mind was over crowded, thoughts overlapping and each of us three had one thing on our mind. It was taking over everything, it was pushing me to the limit with my acting abilities. I wasn't going to be normal for long and I knew it, and the problem with being smart and intelligent-emotionally and mentally-is that I had already analysed were all of this would head.

They would want to fix it, they would want to control it and I knew it was going to get to a point of no return soon-and then we would be fighting a losing battle. I was going to lose the centre of myself, the middle man between the three-not unless I sent him safely away. The thing about thirst is, you are supposed to either quench it or tame it.

Vampires tame the blood, wolves adjust to the intense hatred of the vampire and humans... aren't we always just collateral at the end of it all?

I couldn't tame the blood, if I was worrying about the venom and vice versa but I was smart enough to put the human out of the equation.

Let the two fight it out, the wolf baying for the vampire and the vampire baying for the blood.

Who needs a third wheel anyway...

**Xx~xx~xX**

**THE GREATEST GIFT: Part two**

**Xx~xx~xX**

We are all selfish beings when it comes to treasure and wealth, and the more valued the treasure-the more ruthless we are to keep it protected.

"I just wish you would talk to me, Charles" she sighed, pulling her arms around her body. I watch her from the corner of my eye, cowardly, as a slide of emotions flashes over her face. Pain, confusion, pain, misery...

"Where is Jacob?" I ask her and she shrugs her shoulders heavily, frowning in indifference to the question. She ignores the question all together in the end, it's of no relevance to us, and she takes two large steps under the shed in front of the little shop. We are in town, it was her idea-I needed to see where it was we lived. Not that I cared, and she knew I didn't care, and that was why she had insisted.

She wants me to care for all the little human things, like towns and movies and the such. But we were all selfish beings, and I only cared about myself. And she was me through and through, the part that wasn't tainted. All the human parts of me that had been flung of me when I had first phased... there, in that loose sweater, too tight jeans and worn leather boots and her scowl of doom set firmly in place, hair short and parted in the middle and swinging in the wind in two dark curtains... there in all her glorious vicious beauty, she was the last traces of all that was human about me.

"Where is Jacob?" I ask her again and she wheels around and glares at me. I look away from her dark eyes, still the coward... always the coward, some things are difficult to shake after a decade of being bullied.

"Jacob?" she asked softly, dangerously, and takes a step forward. Her boots scrape the old timber and I can feel the heat of her blooming around me. "How should I know?"  
"You just should" I said coolly

"I just _should_?" she tilts her head and sneers, eyes dancing with a mocking violent glee. "So we aren't going to talk about this" she points at me and then at her self "But we are going to play where's Wally with Jacob?"

"I just want to know where he is" I insist.

"I don't know, I don't really care because Jacob is a big boy..." she pauses and frowns, some thought fleeting into her mind but she overrides it and continues angrily "He can take care of himself. He has always been able to take care of him self... even when he should be crumbling and breaking to pieces"

"Do you think he is crumbling and breaking to pieces right now?" I ask her "Do you think he can take care of himself when you are here, and I am here?"

"Is that what this is about?" she asks, somehow the thought that this is about her and Jacob or some other past detail in the long lost history before I was born... some how this brings relief to her and I suppose _some_ answer is better than no answer at this point. And I am so full of non answers, aren't I?

"You want to know about the past?" she asks, but it's more to her self. I look at the foyer of the station, I watch the few people inside lugging their baggage and standing around with random other humans. She hasn't asked me why this is the place I chose out of every other bland point in this dreary town-I don't think she cares, the location isn't the problem... the problem is in the company.

"Of course" she whispers to herself, taking a seat on a bench. "It's what I always told Jake to do with your mother. I always told him to just tell her about everything, how he came to be connected to her"

"How are they connected?" I asked her taking a seat beside her. I knew the story by now, but a story is not the same when told by different people-no matter if the words and plot line remains the same because a story can just as easily be told by emotions. And the supernatural, the monsters and the gods-they were made out of unstable emotions.

"Bella, Jacob" Leah sighed "Then Renesme and Jacob, it's as simple as that-that's how they are connected. Fucked up, huh?"

Well, that drained all the emotion out of that.

"I don't really care about their story" she said stiffly "It's been over told"  
"I agree"

"Nothing ever happened between Jacob and me" she said suddenly, catching me off guard when her eyes met mine, searching into me and through me and willing me to spill ever secret pain. I looked away quickly. "Charles?" she touched my hand and a slight tremor ran up my arm.

"Then tell the story you do care about, the one that hasn't been told nearly enough times in all lifetimes" I said hoarsely, taking my hand from under hers with difficulty.

"It doesn't really matter" she insists "It's all in the past"  
"Nothing is more dangerous than the past" I look at her and hold her gaze; she is stronger than I am and doesn't drown in the sorrow and love "Don't you see what is happening around us? It has everything to do with the past! Jacob is living proof! And nothing you can say about how nothing ever happened between you and him can ever hope of being true, and you know why?"  
"Why?" she asked rigidly.

"Because Jacob Black is the walking past for both you and me, for Renesme and even Edward" I whispered. "He is the living stone of where it all went wrong or should have gone right"  
"Jake is going to get through his amnesia!" Leah cried desperately, confusion working on her anxiety.

"Amnesia" I said thoughtfully "He doesn't have amnesia, Leah. Amnesia is insinuating that the memories are there, somewhere, just hidden. Jacob Black, he is in our present but to him, he has travelled into the future and its freaking judgement day"

She remained silent then, a tenseness disarranging her initial anger and frustration into something hopeless. I refused to care, I refused to be pulled into her... I refused. It hurt both of us, but it hurts when you love someone just enough and in all the wrong ways.

"This isn't about Jacob" she said eventually, looking at me with a soft comprehension "This was never about Jacob, all this gloom you have around you"

"Maybe" I said.

"Charles, why are we here?" she asked and I shrugged quickly, nonchalantly.  
"You said you were going to tell me about the most important past, and remember Leah..." I smiled "There is nothing more dangerous than history, it follows you through to your present with hope of extinguishing your future"  
"I hate that you hang out with Edward" she grumbled "He is filling you with all this brooding"  
"He doesn't support this" I tell her "He doesn't know"  
"Know what?" she asked and I sighed, she would know soon.

"Tell me?" I asked her "About the past?"

"Fine" she leaned back and stared through the slow rain. It was working up to a storm but we had time. "I was in love with Sam Uley. Deeply in love, I don't know... deeply in love is so subjective when you are young and human. But it felt like he was my ending and beginning and he promised it would be just that... he would be my everything. We were going to get married"

"And then the imprint happened?" I asked and she laughed morosely.

"Yeah, the imprint happened" she sighed "And it would have been okay, back then... if it hadn't been my best friend. If it hadn't been my sister and confidant, the one person I had told all the vulnerable bits about myself... the one person who knew _everything. _It would have been okay if it hadn't been Emily and I would have been able to deal if my father had gotten pissed and turned green and smashed stuff instead of insisting I handle things as calmly as I could. All of them, elders and family lecturing me; how dare I feel heartbreak in the face of such a love! Well, it felt like that was what they were saying..."

I leaned back heavily, looking inside the bus port and trying to remove the sudden anger I had at Sam and disappointment I felt about Emily.

"I don't think I would have done that" I whispered. "I wouldn't have just... dropped you"  
"You say that now because of what's between us" she sighed. "But there is something you don't have a chance of fighting against, and that is the imprint"  
"Please, continue?"  
"I had thought the worst part was when Seth and my dad continued speaking to Sam..." she looked up and I thought her eyes seemed moist "I thought the worst part was when everyone thought I was the selfish one for insisting on feeling pain"  
"What was the worst part?"  
"When I turned into a wolf and I had to know that Sam had lied to me, when he said he had never loved someone as he loved me. I had never known a person could be loved so... _completely._ And... I guess, it was hell because I had to see and feel it every time and him and every other guy could peruse into my mind and see how pathetic I had become. A she wolf, never aging and a genetic dead end"

"But I got over him" she sighed, shrugging her shoulders "I think sometimes it was because what I felt for him was when I was human. It didn't get tainted by immortality. Pining after Sam _forever, bleh!_" she stuck out her tongue in revulsion.

"And then what happened?" I asked her and she lifted a full eyebrow in confusion.

"The end" she stated. "I mean, the whole running of to Jake's pack and condemning your mother to Bella by saving Jake's imprint from a bunch of dead pansies... that happened then"

"Okay, fine" I laughed, the sound hollow "What happened in between... after you ran from Sam and your heart healed and before you and I... met"  
"I am serious when I tell you nothing happened between your father and I" she repeated firmly.

"I think your idea of 'happening' is very different from a lot of other people"

"Look, we got close. Really close, but he imprinted on Renesme..."  
"Before anything could happen" I finished "And now, he is at the point before he imprinted... the point where you two are supposed to be really close"  
"I am not buying that this is about Jacob's crush on me" Leah said stonily "I don't buy it one bit"

"You were never easily fooled" I told her.

"Jake and I have a connection. I am his Beta" she said. "Renesme and I, we have history... she was there for me when I wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and die. She found me at each point when I was about to get swallowed into the darkness. And she didn't do it for Jake, she didn't do it for anyone... she just... you'll have to ask her why she did it"

"Jacob and Sam brought you pain" I told her "You can't fool me, nothing happened between you and Jacob, guaranteed... but you fell for him"  
"That all doesn't matter" she said.

"The men around you, the ones you find yourself connected to..." I told her wording everything deliberately "They find a way of pushing you to the darkness. And one day, there wont be anyone to pull you out before the darkness takes you"  
The knobs where turning in her head, light and images flashing over her vision as everything fell into place. The bus arrived, wheeling to the front.

"Charles...?" it sounded like a question and yet it seemed like a warning. She was warning me against something... but I was trying to save her.

"We are all selfish" I told her.

"You don't have a selfish bone in you!" she whispered rapidly.

"I have you to thank for that, don't I? Here is the truth..." I told her and her breath caught in her chest. I listened to the stuttering of her heart, shocked by the halt in oxygen. "They pushed you to the darkness Leah" I told her softly, my heart clenching with fear as hers did "But I am worse. I _am_ darkness and I will... put out your light"

"You have gone insane!" she hissed. "I don't love Jacob. I don't love Sam!"  
"You don't love me..." I said "not like you did them and it needs to stay that way, it can't ever change because it will doom you! I will doom you!"

"I am not going anywhere!" she growled, her eyes flashing.

"Then I'll go" I said trying to remain calm. Her and I, we were never for theatrics. The human's passed us with little glances-we were just a couple having a tiff, not two wolves at the verge of destroying each others worlds. We were each others worlds, and if I caved it would be suicide to the both of us. "I will go alone into the world, and my darkness will envelope me and I will never come out of it Leah. There will be no telepath or psychic to ever find me out"  
"Are you threatening..." she shook her head, pointing at herself and then at me "You are threatening me with your... are you?" she didn't make sense but the comprehension was in her eyes.

"I need you to go away from me, Leah" I said "And you got it completely right. I am not good at being selfish, so please understand how unnatural this is for me?"

"Understand!" she roared standing up abruptly before slumping back down almost in pain. I knew the pain, that dreadful squeeze of the heart. We had been building up our tolerance against that little heart problem the imprint gave, her and I working hand in hand on numbing the pain... even if she didn't realise it.

But there were some pains that worked and worked until you could ignore them no more. And I knew that this one would be one of them, we were only delaying its effect. But it would come hard, crashing over us and paralysing all other feelings out of our bodies.

"Charles..." she wheezed, her head falling between her legs.

"Leah, you have to leave" I told her. "You have to go, can you see, the bus is unloading. We have a few minutes"

Tears, pain and heartbreak. It seems all my life; this was what it had been about. But it wasn't going to be like that for her. Ever. I was going to be selfish. I was putting her foremost to everyone, to my self...

_Or maybe you just want an excuse to stop fighting against yourself..._

Dangerous thoughts. Maybe I was about to create history, but I wouldn't include her in it because everything brewing inside off me was of a dangerous nature. I might be condemned to a pathetic never ending future thanks to my genetic make up, but my past was going to be one looked upon with fear. It would be nothing but danger and violence and I didn't need to be psychic to know that I was at the brink of a battle...

"It would be selfish of me to allow you to be tainted by this" I whispered absently.  
"Charles!" she yanked my hand "You tell me what the fuck is going on right now!"

"No, Leah..." I said softly, letting her hold my hand "You have done enough looking after me. You have done enough looking after Jacob. Go look after you...?"  
"No!"

"Yes" I stood up and held her shoulder carefully. "You are going, you are going to go find a cabin in the woods and be a vet. You are going to be happy."  
"I can't be happy without you" she said softly, gulping down tears for the both of us.

"You promised me the imprint was about us caring, it wasn't about holy matrimony or us being lovers"  
"And we don't have to!" she hissed desperately.

"I care about you, Leah Clearwater" I said "Didn't we say it wasn't bout making someone happy?"

"So stop trying to make me happy!" she shouted "Stop trying to... save me! This isn't how you save me! You are doing it all wrong!"

"It isn't about making someone happy" I ignored her "Or making them miserable. I am making you miserable"  
"You want it to end?" she asked "You hate the imprint? Charles, it isn't as simple as saying 'I release you'!"  
"This isn't really about the imprint" I said. I wasn't sure how true it was. Sometimes, I had this strange sensation that if she didn't exist and I wasn't imprinted... I would have drifted off to this hypnotic hunger long ago.

I kneeled by her feet, and held her hands. She looked away from me momentarily, but she wasn't able to keep her eyes from mine.

"What if I said..." I looked at her hands, and I knew then that although I had meant the words to be to appease her... the truth of my hope and happiness lay in them "What if I said that when I wasn't so filled with...darkness... I would come to you?"

"I am not going anywhere" she said stubbornly.

"You promised me" I said "The little house in the woods? You promised"  
"I didn't promise"  
"Semantics" I stated and she scowled at me. "Lee, please... go? I can't ever heal... if you are with me here" such a lie, I could never destroy myself completely, if you are with me here... without destroying you too.

"Charles?" she touched my cheek, all that violent beauty turning so dangerously fragile that I was in danger of drowning in my pain. "You are breaking my heart"

"No, Leah..." I whispered, rising and pulling her up easily "You are saving my heart" I touched her chest carefully, the strength of her heart shuddering against my palm. "You are saving us both"  
"I can't leave" she insisted, the tears had fallen but she didn't care. "Jake..."  
"Jake is on the verge of leaving us already" I said, knowing full well that when I did find him and told him of Leah leaving to some unknown destination were he was _not _to follow...

He would follow her, and I would know she would be _safe_... and then the little postcard of the forest, with the red house with soft smoke billowing out of its chimney and two ethereal loves sitting on the porch... that utopia would come to exist. And I could be left to my hunger...

"I can't" she looked at the bus and then at me, and I new she was going to leave. She was fighting against it, against the strong thought I had fitted to her mind-persuading her, but she was about to leave.

"I said I would come, didn't I?" I said smiling a little "When you have established yourself as a good doctor, after I help Edward with his... situation, I'll come. And it will all be safe?"

"I can't" she repeated.

If you don't, all that is good about me will cease to exist.

"You can" I smiled at her and led her to the door of the bus. "I'll miss you?"

"Charles?" she seemed lost, staring from the impatient bus driver to me. She took in a breath, looked at me strongly and I feared she knew what I had done to her so unjustly-but it was no worse than the way the imprint took away the true Leah from me-she held my gaze. A step forward, and then another and her arms went around me, pulling me down to her. "I can feel your fear" she said, in her old voice, the one that could tell me the sky was pink and I would believe it.

"You know I want to stand by you and fight..." she said and I managed a look of confusion "You know what I am talking about, fighting the thirst... but if you think I need to be away, then I _will_ go away. And if you think I will _stay_ away, then you are terribly naïve. Imprint or not, I will do what I feel is _fucking_ right... do you _understand_ me?"

I couldn't reply, I was frozen in her rich umber eyes-sad, miserable, determined and beautiful.

She sighed, her spice clouding my senses and scorching my throat and then she lurched forward elegantly, her body flush to mine and her lips colliding with my lips so suddenly and viciously that I stood frozen in her embrace. She was speaking, telling me a secret and I was lost in her words, determined to catch every silent syllable and against my will, I held her and pulled her-determined to make us one, so I could run away with her and leave the monster in me behind.

She kissed me lightly once more, my mind a frenzy of incoherent thoughts and questions and blood pounding in my ear before touching my cheek and turning around.

"See you soon, Charles" she said, and I watched the bus leave, feeling like running to it and taking her back into my arms but she wouldn't be safe there. She would be nestled in danger there, and I was being selfish and saving my humanity before I lost myself in the tempting sin inside of me.

Embrace your nature, they said, to better understand it. Embrace the darkness, to witness the light.

I was embracing and I was terrified of myself.

Xx~xx~xX

Finding Jacob had not been easy. He kept me out his mind when I asked him to show me where he was so I could come to him. He could sense that I wanted to talk, and talking was neither of our strong points. But he was a wolf, and wolves were known to live in dense woods...

"I would appreciate it if you changed to human" I told him and he snorted.

_Does it make a difference?_ His voice reverberated in my mind, too loud and commanding.

"You are being childish" I said "You are being a brat"  
_Where is Leah? _He asked stiffly and I shied from his loud wolf mental voice-it sounded like him, but when he was in his wolf form it packed a mental punch.

"Phase" I said "And I will tell you all about it?"

He eyed me warily and then a ripple spread over him, his body twisting and warping back into a man. He crouched on the ground momentarily, then rose unabashedly naked before kicking of a bundle of clothes from his leg and picking them up slowly. He watched me as he dressed, eyes lost between a glare and distrust.

"You are thinking about leaving" I told him and he let out a hard chortle of contempt.

"So?" he challenged. "It's just thoughts... were would I even go? My father is dead and I don't know how to be... normal"  
"You don't know how to be normal just yet" I said carefully. "I wanted to ask you something"

"Where is Leah" he frowned "Go ask her, leave me alone. The only reason I am sticking around for the Christmas dinner is Angela. I just want to be left in my wolf mind"  
"Were you talking to Seth?" I asked him and he shrugged. "How is he?"  
"Faint vampire scent in the woods" Jacob sighed "But it was ages ago. Maybe that's were my leaving will take me, back to doing what I was supposed to have done anyway. Be the Alpha of the Quileutes"  
"I agree with that" I said.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked impatiently. "I can offer you no counsel on Big Bronze, or Edward"  
"You are the only person who remembers the past clearly" I said.

"Like it was yesterday!" he laughed the same awful hard laugh. "What don't you know about the past? I would have thought everyone had unloaded to you already?"  
"I wanted to know if you were in love with Leah" I said and he reeled back, face paling oddly as though I had slapped him.

"Why?" he demanded. "Why don't you just asks Leah"  
"I am asking you" I said.

"It doesn't matter" he said. "The past is dangerous"

"A threat to the future?" I asked and he nodded stiffly. That was exactly what I was banking on, digging up the past and letting it affect his and Leah's future. "But it isn't really a past to you? It's more of a yesterday"  
"Makes it all the more painful" he whispered.

"So you loved her?"  
"Love isn't one feeling" he said "I learnt that the hard way. Cared about her, I cared about her a little more each and every day... and then one day, I couldn't stop thinking about her and her hate for Sam and how beautiful she was. And then the next day, she was imprinted to my son and I had imprinted on Bella's daughter. The end"

"So you loved her?" I insisted. He looked up at me with suspicion.

"You don't seem surprised or worried" he said. "I mean, I am not shocked that you knew I may have..."  
"Not _may_, not _had_ but you _do_ have feelings for her!" I said coolly and he waved a hand for me to calm down, I hadn't realised my composure had slipped with his little sip up.

"It doesn't matter!" Jacob growled, angry-but not at me "Imprint or not, Alpha-Beta or not..."  
"I want what best for her" I told him, my voice shaking.

"Me too" he said. "I care about her"  
"She has left" I said and he stared at me in confusion "I sent her away, I... made her go"  
"She wouldn't leave you" he said calmly, as though I was a rambling mental person.

"Not without a little push" I tapped the side of my head and he scowled at me, looking away. "It didn't really work, I don't think it did"  
"You are no worse than him" Jacob spat "Going around reading peoples thoughts and putting thoughts in people's minds"  
"It's not the same as what you and I do, or what Renesme and I do!" I said quickly.

"Only because you need our permission!" Jacob hissed. "You can't just stick things in her mind!"

"You see, you want what's best for her!" I said, moving away from the topic of the intricate laws of telepathy that I was yet to bother learning "And you are what's best for!"

"I am not what's best for her kid" Jacob laughed derisively "There is a reason you are her imprint"  
"You were Renesme's imprint"

"Well, she is more vampire than she is human and you aren't so different story"  
"No, not different!" I said desperately "Worse. I am worse! I can't control it, its controlling me and..."  
"What?" he frowned at me and I paused my rambling, my mouth dangling open. I had said too much.

"You are what is best for her" I repeated and he shook his head, rising so he was staring straight into my eyes.

"Leah's what is best for Leah" he said "If this is what she has for an imprint" he waved his hand at me in disgust. "Just like Edward, just going to pass her around and then leave her for no apparent reason..."  
"What?" I shook my head, trying to make sense of his words "There is a reason I am leaving her, you moron! I am not good for her and you are!"  
"Stop saying that" he warned.

"You don't know you aren't good for her!" I told him "If she hadn't imprinted on my and you hadn't imprinted on Renesme... you two would have fallen in love!"  
"And what a spineless love that would have been!" Jacob snorted. "You don' get it, but _now_ I do! My past was just yesterday, and let me tell you what was happening in that freaking week. I was watching the girl I love die and Leah was trying to survive hating and loving the man who broke her heart. If she and I had fallen in love, it would have been to escape from another love we both couldn't handle not because we were made for each other? Where is the honour in that?"

"But she..."

"I know the old her, and this new her... trust me, they both would have agreed with me" he said "And even if we had gotten together, the old her would have agreed eventually and it would have been heart break all over again. She and I are the perfect Alpha and Beta, maybe... but it ends there"

I was heaving, air pushing and tugging through my lungs. The tears were in my eyes, her face was in my vision and her hot kiss on my lips. "You wont go to her?" I asked him.

"No" he said. "She is yours. You are hers. What I feel, it's just a _feeling_... its taking a while to go through the motions, but hey! It's only been a couple of months since she dumped me for my son, and I have been living with her practically since then, huh?"

I entertained his attempt at humour and managed a brief smile.

"You said it didn't work?" he asked "The 'push'"  
"I don't think it did" I said sombrely. "It was almost like she had pushed into my mind and seen _everything. _She knew things not even Edward would know"  
"Then she knows what she is doing" he sighed "But I am not going to follow her, no matter how nice her ass is"

_Charles! _

"Edward?" I looked around the shadows, into the darkness and past it but we were alone.

"What?" Jacob asked spinning on his heels, peering into the shadows of the trees.

"Angela" I said, only it was Edward's voice and so suddenly, I was plunged into fire... burning and awakening. I fell to the ground heaving; realising that the pain I had felt had not been through Edward. But Angela's through Edward.

"Angela?" he looked at me agitated.

"Phase!" I told him, flinging my shirt off and then opting for just bursting through the clothing, there were more important matters at hand "It's Jane, its Bella and they have my mother and grandfather and _your _Angela"

It hurt, it was pain and wonder and the moment I was the beast again... my hunger trebled. Each leap I made lead me closer to the edge, and he watched it all through my mind with terror... but him and I, we both knew we needed the wolves.

As much as Bella was an old friend to some, Jane had never been anything but evil.

**Authors notes:**

**I will respond to all reviews and questions in the next chapter! I just watched Breaking Dawn 2... and... well, they _tried_. But the book was already so bad so it was a losing battle, or a non battle like they so beautifully wasted money illustrating but I _was_ grateful for the bit of action... **

**And then we have the ending... perfect and sweet and sickening. It was Breaking Dawn the book, trauma all over again. And this time, I was unable to fling the giant screen across the cinema like I had done with the book, chucking it across the room... **

**Bella gets everything, even Jacob and a weird kid that doesn't need potty training...**

**But we shall fix all of that, won't we?**

**Evil grin,**

**See you soon**

**Xx, tj**


	11. Chapter 11

**The Greatest Curse**

**Xx~xx~xX**

They circled her, both wolves moving through the daylight, fur tinged in a red that was distinct to each coat. The large russet wolf was natural looking despite its size but the smaller wolf was leaner and oddly proportioned-coat entirely bronze and shining metallic in the setting sun. She wasn't concerned by the obvious differences between the two beasts, but what had shaken her attention had been the pair of green balls of fire staring hungrily at her from the bronze wolf, and it was those eyes that shocked Jane when they sent a thrill down her spine.

"I dare you" she said dryly and the russet wolf leapt at her. She knew the wolf, Jacob Black. He collided with a premeditated back hander from her, and before he had landed on his feet and bounding back to her, the smaller wolf had launched at her. She skipped out of its way; it was clumsy and determined-uncomfortable in its own form. She reached a hand out deliberately into the air, feeling the brush of soft fur move through her palm and in one impulse; she grabbed the long bronze tail, tugging it back hard.

It snarled, it grumbled while she laughed gleefully. She pivoted on her heels, bronze tail filling her hands and the wolf connected to the tail rising off the ground and in one movement she released him and he went up into the air, so far into the distant that his yelp of surprise died down almost instantly. Jacob Black attacked her in a rage, his temper leading him right back into her initial attack and she slapped him across the muzzle and skipped back from the snapping jaws just in time to see thick blood oozing out of his black nose. He eyed her with hate, she eyed him with satisfaction and in one swift motion... she pierced his mind with _pain._ He twitched and flailed, legs shivering and soft whimpers strangled out of him...

"The big bad wolf, huh?" Jane raised an eyebrow, watching the animal hiding a man.

"Grmmm whff!" he whined something, his giant brown eyes swivelling to something, all while shaking in pain. She looked in the direction of his gaze, and saw the glorious human... no, no human moved like that or held her eyes so impudently with over priced beauty, maybe a half vampire...

She was wrong there too, something in the man's eyes told her this... it was the bronze wolf gazing at her all over again in those _nasty_ jade orbs. He sprinted over the terrain towards her, she wasn't afraid... he had a beating heart and that made him by _default_ weaker than her, but when he collided with her and scooped her in his arms... she could feel the sudden shock of fear spreading through her.

"You bit him!" the man growled low in her ear and she pushed at him, prying his hands off of her, and scratching at his face. "You killed him!" he continued his ranting.

"Not yet, but thank you for that little _suggestion_" she whispered into his ears before piercing his mind, sending him down on the ground at her feet, naked and clutching his head desperately, a silent scream working through his throat.

She kept him in her hold; Jacob slipping from her gift slowly-she needed every single bit of her attention to keep some elastic shield of the being from flinging her gift off. She only had minutes, but what she wanted to do would only take up seconds.

"Get over here, Spot" she growled, pulling Jacob by the tail and kicking at the giant curve of his rib. He winced and whimpered as bones snapped and splintered, and then she dragged a finger along the dented curve, finding the concave and pressing at it, pushing through it. He howled, his head rising into the air, while the naked man behind her rose from the ground shakily, before falling to his knees, fighting her off his mind desperately.

"A bite, a bite... that's all it will take to put you down" she sighed bored "In this filthy skin? Let's move some of this out of the way, shall we?" she yanked at the coarse fur by Jacob's thick neck, then opted to pierce the thick skin there with a finger and then curl through the thick flesh, skin and fur away. The blood gushed out in torrents and she cringed at the thick smell of _dog, _and tried to endear herself to the richness of the blood instead of its scent.

"Argh!" she puckered and in four violent attacks around the wound, she sent her venom gaily on its way through Jacob Black's body.

"You!" the strange man rose from the ground as naked as he was, as enraged as he could be-those dreadful green eyes gripping her with hate. He took a step forward and she cranked up the pain, it only caused him to stumble once. "You...!"

"Me?" she asked sweetly, telling herself there was nothing to be afraid of. She was the worst monster here, he had a beating heart and she didn't. Beating hearts were _appallingly_ human, and as a result, dreadfully weak... "What are you going to do about it, Cry me a River?"

"I'll..." Charles looked from her to a shimmering Jacob; he was phasing back painfully "I will kill you. I will kill you. I will _drink_ you dry..."  
"Drink me dry?" she squeaked but he didn't give her a chance to grasp comprehension, attacking her once more and scooping her in his arms. He latched on to her throat, her little fist delivering hard bone cracking blows upon blows on his back.

"No" Jacob wanted to scream, but he was drowning in poison and managed a whimper. _Charles, stop... Stop!_

He shoved Jane's head to the side, snarls reverberating through the air while Jane screamed and yelled, and swore at him. His audacity to be stronger than her, his audacity to treat her like prey... but most of all, his audacity to instil fear in her.

Xx~xx~xX

There was nothing beautiful about my family reunion, and from the way Isabella Cullen-now Swan, the way my _mother_ held my father up by his hair, dangling him in the air as though he were but a magnificently scarred limbless doll and she was only an inquisitive sadistic child, I knew that I was made by the most mismatched pair in the universe.

No matter what I had once been told, lovely tales of a human girl sacrificing _something vague_ and a vampire sacrificing _everything corporeal._

There was nothing beautiful about the scene, Edward's eyes alive and swivelling left, right and then up at Isabella, his eyes filled with violence and unadulterated hate. He didn't say a word, not a sound. He just wore that vicious abhorrence like a weapon, like he thought if he channelled the hate with enough force, he could burn his ex wife and eternal love to sweet ashes.

And in the iniquity of the scene, she was bathed in autumn light from my pretty stained round window-gold and orange hues filtering through the painted glass and dancing over her reflective face, casting her in a beauty that could never be justified. And it was in this beauty, that I saw it and it felt like de ja vu, to see the twitching expression on her face-to remember so acutely how she looked when she told me about her love for Jacob; there it was, that distinctly _ugly_ twinge to her beauty.

"This is too much!" Bella said shaking her head in fake disappointment and her moment of manic glee dying almost abruptly. Bellow us, Angela was groaning in pain and Jane had gone to welcome the two wolves.

She lifted my father further up, so his eyes were levelled with hers, her fingers gripping his hair sadistically. The sight was wholly chilling, emotionally and otherwise and every misery of my questionable childhood awoke in a crushing intensity.

My father was ready to light the world on fire, to light Isabella on fire... never before had I seen him so filled with anger that his hallowed face could turn to something so terrifying. The growls and roars behind us filled our silence, while Isabella tilted Edward this way and that way, surveying him as though she were a buyer at an auction and he was but a broken still luxurious antiquity.

Jane was shrieking, she was yelling and hollering and swearing with such abandon that Isabella, finally, comprehended that she wasn't at a sale in some store... she wasn't at a museum and she wasn't the Queen of Everything.

"Ness, is that Jacob and Leah outside?" she asked casually and I shrugged, indifference was always my best weapon against my mother. Caring about something meant she could snatch that something from you.

"Nessie" Edward spoke finally, his voice raw and barely controlled "Go to Angela" he commanded, with such finality and strength that I almost believed him to be greater than her, my mother, held up in the air as he was.

I looked at the door confused, it was hanging on its hinge-I wasn't certain if I had done that or Isabella.

"So where was it you said Jasper went, Ness?" she asked me calmly, moving Edward into the light glitter "I can't believe I thought your glittering was something _amazing_"  
"You glitter too, dear Bella" Edward said stonily.

"My dear, I glow" she whispered "I bring light to the world"

"Then why are you surrounded by darkness" he asked and she shook him violently, in one single blurring motion. I gasped, taking a step forward and she stopped her harassment of my father.  
"Renesme Carlie!" she warned. "I suggest you do as your father say, this minute, and go and see to Angela!"

"Do as your mother says" Edward murmured, a smile tugging at his lips "You know how her temper is like"

Another outraged cry and Isabella is incapable of ignoring it any longer. She gives Edward one last contemplative look before casually tossing my father into my surprised arms and rushing outside.

"It's Charles!" Papa hissed, his eyes wide and terrified, and almost as though to punctuate the horror of the outside-Jacob Black lets out a pained droning howl while Isabella's hissing fills the air.

I was running out, ignoring Angela's thrashing-what danger was a little venom-and breaking through the door. There she was, my mother, pulling my Charles off of Jane. He was fighting her tooth and nail, clawing at Jane's hair and delivering bites all along her little neck. Ghastly sights, my mother and father and now this fully grown man-my son-climbing over a barely teenage ethereal girl like she were a tree and savagely latching on to her neck.

"No!" I hissed "Charles, let her be... come to me!" I held my hands out as though he was three years old and I was trying to persuade him to come to me, to choose me over Leah. He didn't, just like then but it was Isabella who managed to fling him off a hysterical Jane and send him crashing through the dirt.

"Charles...?" I took a tentative step towards my son, eyeing Jane but she only lasted a second in my sights before zooming of into the far trees in a mixture of disbelief and raw fear. "Charles, come to me..."  
"It has to be a bite!" Charles growled in frustration, his eyes fixed on Isabella. My heart shuddered inside my chest, he was terribly worse, so awfully changed and terrifying I was almost tempted to remain silent... but then... Isabella reached her hand out to my child.

"Charles, is that you there?" Isabella asked him, a smile on her lips. "Little Charles...my, how fine you have grown; past anyone's expectations! Won't you come to your Grandmother?"  
"You stay away from him!" I hissed and in the background of the precarious situation, Jacob whimpered. Isabella smiled apologetically at me, and danced towards Charles-scooping him in her arms and carefully wrangling him, trying to keep his impossibly pointy teeth from making contact with her.

I collided with them, crying and begging, pleading and threatening; she had to leave him, she didn't need him... he was something I cared about. He was everything I cared about, she just couldn't have him!

"You leave him!"I hissed, pulling at her hair and biting her face. Her attention was mostly drawn to keeping Charles from making contact with her skin and we hobbled awkwardly in the dirt.

_You leave him!_ I hissed into her mind and in one torrent I let the images of despair and blackness flood her mind. Everything she had caused ploughed into her with the force of my pain, and in her blind twirling with me clutching her... she released Charles and he staggered away.

"I'll leave!" Isabella groaned in despair, grabbing my wrist and tugging hard. Something snapped, the sound filling my ears before the pain spread all over from the point of the injury to my mind. I released her and she hissed at me, her eyes flashing dangerously but something else was in them. It was entirely vague as she gazed at me but when she looked briefly at a groaning Jacob, I could see its reflection. Mild concern and regret.

"I'll leave" Isabella said softly, looking back at me intently and then blurring away.

"Jacob is hurt" Charles said flatly, walking _past _Jacob even with his announcement. I heard his feet echo over the ground, into the kitchen and once again he moved past a tortured Angela and then up the stairs in one ghosting motion and into the attic, to Edward I was sure.

"Jacob?" I whispered, rising from the ground and holding my already healing arm. It was fractured, splintered and healing now would only result in a misshapen hand but there were more pressing matters. "Jacob...?"

He was shivering violently, the red fur shooting back into him and his bones creaking and crunching as he dissolved back into a man. He was writhing, his arm wound around himself and blood covering almost all of him and painting him in a red leotard.

"Jacob...!" I was by his side, he was in my arms and we were in the kitchen before his heart could finish its three punch beat that I knew so well. "Breathe!" I insisted, placing him on the kitchen floor and laying him beside a convulsing Angela.

I roved all over him, searching for the bite, my hands coated in his blood.

"Angela!" Jacob groaned, swatting my hands away from him "Deal with Angela!"

"No!" I flipped him to the side besides his pained efforts, touching and feeling through the swollen flesh and dark patches for the wound. His ribs were caved in, and as I touched them he let out an ear splitting howl. I tried to ignore it, feeling over the gruesome internal injury that was threatening to escape to the outside, feeling it for any openings.

"If you don't suck it out, she will turn!" Jacob rasped, his eyes rolling back into his head and hands searching for mine, trying to still my desperate searching but he was impossibly weaker than I was.

Terrifying weaker, nothing like he should be.

"And she would stop being collateral! I would have truly saved her... if I let her become one of us!" I spluttered, casting Angela's abrupt jerking a look that was half contempt and worry. I was vaguely aware of the irrational irritation working through me for the human. What was his problem and concern; where he would die if I didn't locate the bite, Angela Weber would only become truly indestructible-and I would have fulfilled my promise to her.

"Renesme!" he grabbed my wrist hard, the _broken_ wrist, and it seared with pain. I was forced to look at him, to meet his dark eyes and allow his voice to still my frenzy, his eyes forcing comprehension in to me "Get the venom out of Angela, now Renesme!"

"Jacob, but you could die!" I cried but I was already compelled by him and in a shaky voice trying to play off calm I stammered "Jacob... I will... I will save you. Okay, I won't let you die! You are going to be alright okay... I can save you _both._ I can save you all!"

He smiled softly while I scampered over to Angela, never removing my eyes from him and carefully cradling Angela in my arms. My mouth found the generic vampire bite at the side of her neck and my mouth filled with the bitter venom laced blood, and I fed on it awaiting the moment her blood was sweet once more.

I was held by his eyes, connected by an indescribable emotion and for a moment-an _eternity_, I thought he knew me-the real me, the third me. I thought he remembered that shy girl who was so nervous about wanting to kiss him that she abruptly kissed him with such force that she broke his nose. But then his eyelids drifted to a gentle close and hid his precious brown eyes from me, and Angela Weber lived to be mortal once more.

I tried to place her back on the floor gently and not fling her to some corner in my severe dread, reaching for Jacob desperately and touching his cheek. His heart was slowing, I hadn't found the wound... I hadn't saved him. Once more, I hadn't saved him and now twice he would die... because of me, because I was inadequate... at anything.

"Jacob, please?" I pleaded.

His mind was slipping I thought-wasn't it the way we died? Who had ever died... who had I ever mourned...? I always thought I would be the first to break through immortality, and be welcomed by death... it was always supposed to be me, I was the one who was never supposed to exist.

"Jacob...?" I begged but his eyes fluttered only a little, teasing my hope exponentially and then crushing it whey the thick rim of short black lashes sealed shut. "JACOB!"

His mind was drifting into the sweetness of death, his soul awaiting its release and I was pushing through all of it, following him with my gift and plying him with plea after plea, emotion after emotion, heartbreak after heartbreak and as distraught as I was... I let him in on my love.

He didn't like my gift, he hated it from the moment we had met without the imprint... but I was fraught with pain, filled to the rim. Could he understand desperation? I was desperate for him to live.

He had to live another day, he had to breathe for another year... I needed to hear his heart's song for another lifetime!

_Anguish_, oh fate...!

Another hour, another minute!

Let him live for another second, I implore... I beseech... I pray...

_Please_.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Family were the most perfect victims; you were guaranteed an instant forgiveness for most offences. I knew, as his thoughts screeched from three paths into that single hunger, that after he did what I could not stop him from doing...

I would forgive him.

He was my grandson, but most of all and maybe this was the worst part; I was a telepath. I could see into his mind and live it through him.

"Charles!" I warned, but he only looked at me, through me with those glowing eyes. His mouth was smeared with silver, bruises all over the side of his face. I sent out one single plea, an image of his ashen self wild and stalking me, his eyes wide and yearning.

He shrugged my mental pursuits to the side and carried on his advance. I wanted to shiver, I wanted to yell...

Heavens, I wanted to run.

"I am not going to hurt you" he whispered.

_I am not going to hurt you!_ Charles insisted, but behind his assuring, was that gnawing sensation. Thirst, I thought at first but it was so different and intricate that I could never understand it. It felt cannibalistic to me, it felt raw and heady and too hedonistic to be permitted in this world...

But it was underneath everything, all his thoughts on the pain of turning into a wolf and the pain of his own venom coursing through his veins, not strong enough to dull the ache of travelling... that's what he thought of it when he phased, he was travelling between worlds at an impossibly rapid speed. And as his grandfather and a telepath, I had to understand to the best of my capabilities... I had to see the horror and his barely there control on this other worldly hunger growing and spreading through him.

"Just a bite" Charles insisted, his eyes large and three quarters insane. He brought his arm up, his wrist angled to his mouth and watched me closely as he bit into his own flesh and sweet heaven perforated the air. I held my breath and I kept my mouth shut tight, but it didn't help. It wouldn't help...

"Edward" he appeared beside me, crouched "I need this! You can see it... I need it! It has to be a vampire bite into my veins; the venom in your veins is not nearly as potent as what is in your bite...!"  
_I see it..._ I whispered. _Your pain, your burning and need for strength to survive the phase but what petrifies me is not that you need it, but that you want it more than anything else!_

"Bite... suck, take!" he commanded, wrenching my head back violently and bringing his wrist to my clamped mouth. His hot hand went to the underneath of my jaw and he slowly began working at his preternatural strength... focusing himself to prying my mouth open, his energy burning and venom depleting. He was becoming ravenous with each second he spent in this world... his world, a third world altogether... because the Charles harassing me now, looked loosely like the boy I had been irritated with for wearing a hoody, the boy I had found endearing in his way of connecting to people, the noble warrior who had held a katana with determination to save all he loved.

One drop passed my lips, and I was in done for. My teeth had difficulty going through his skin, but he was not nearly as hard as any vampire... barely as durable as a half vampire, but that was all going to change as my venom coursed through him. He groaned while I moaned. I was unable to reach for his arm and pull it to me, secure it to my hungry sucking but he read my thoughts, and held me fast to him.

A minute passed, behind me the vague sounds of Renesme saving Angela prior to mourning Jacob. A whole minute, before I remembered that I was not in heaven, that my every wish would not be satisfied by this godly blood and that the hand I was practically severing was my grandson's.

He had his fill and removed his arm, I had my immortal retribution against my vampiric nature stomped on and I watched him within the strains of this new addiction... as he stumbled backwards, slumping into the wingback chair.

"Charles?" I breathed.

He was slipping away, overwhelmed by the amount of power and sweet poison moving through him. In a moment he had passed out, silver tinged on his mouth and all the bruises and horrific swells of injury retreating from his skin, he was turning too beautiful with every second with is heart thumping majestically in his chest.

"Ngh!" I groaned, but the sound didn't rouse him. The pain was back, the pain from the werewolf bites and behind it was the taste of his blood on my tongue.

I watched hungrily as the wound on his wrist stitched itself, trying futilely to rein in this side of me, I had only ever encountered this other me once and back then, I had come out victor and Isabella was now a vampire thanks to that. But this was worse, oh heavens... this was torture... the blood was wasted in the air, wasted around the healing skin and I would have saved every drop if I could but get up... if I could but roll over to him...

I had never fallen asleep. I had never had a dream. I was a vampire; there were many hidden prices to pay for such a flimsy permanent legacy. I had stolen all this sensations from the living; they were forever lost to my mortality.

So as the hot white screen rose from my eyes, I was startled to realise that indeed it had been obscuring the world from me and that the chair that had once held Charles now held nothing... and that I had missed all of this and it was not a soft darkness instead of the cold day I had left my reality in.

"Charles?" I questioned the room, listening intently to everything. It was silent, and the quiet filled me with violent apprehension. The alarm that coursed through me, sought action... it sought movement...

But it was the chest that jumped violently in the air and not me. I looked at it in confusion, zoning in on the distinct crack at the side of the sturdy wood. I was filled with excitement, a hot heat creeping over me similar to the haze that had been over my vision. The chest groaned and rocked, violent thumps coming from inside it and in three seconds... it had exploded open.

My arms and legs rolled out, the points on my body were they had been ripped from burning with a lovely itch. I had never felt more alive, and as I gazed at them...

I knew that I would be whole and rid of my sanctuary and jail in this attic. I would be rid of my irrelevance to saving my family, in this attic

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

He moved slowly down the stairs, drunk and light headed. He could hear her soft sobbing, he could feel her misery and as he entered the kitchen and saw her heaving and shuddering over a naked Jacob Black... he felt it for himself.

"Jacob?" his voice rang, piercing the air powerfully. He cringed from the sound of it, but Renesme turned around carefully, red eyes wide and hopeless as they stared into his.

"He told me to leave him...! I couldn't find the wound Charles!" she spluttered "Because... she bit on the back of his neck! I couldn't... I was being so... so... daft, looking at the sides and... I should have just flipped him over, been more thorough..."  
"Jacob?" he repeated, staring at the still man.

"Charles!" Renesme cried, her one hand clutching Jacob's large hand and the other reaching out to him. He shied away from her open plea, knocking into a wall and sending it crashing into the dining room. "Please, come to us, Charles?!"

"No" Charles said loudly, shaking his head "No!"

"Charles?" Renesme tilted her head in confusion "He is your father...!"  
"I can't...!" Charles breathed and with that, he was out of the house and speeding away-not from his mother's mourning of his father, oh no, this understanding hadn't dissolved into his mind the way it had in hers. He was running away from the sight his preternatural eyes had shown his mind; the sight of light piercing through the three living beings in the kitchen, an eerie glow of honey scented light pulsing lethargically into the air. Their flesh was filled with that living radiance, their eyes hollow and pulsing with energy; Angela Weber peeking up at him, Renesme's appeals to him and Jacobs shut eyes letting out wisps of the light.

He was terrified of the sights around him, of the world he was seeing through his venom drunk eyes.

Renesme was after him, yelling for him to come back to her.

He phased, he had a little power-he could be the wolf for a few hours he thought, a few hours before he burnt the venom up and the hunger came back full force to torture him. He flung into the air, never losing velocity and sped from her and ignored his mother's diligent pursuit, his fear pushing him further and faster.

Charles Black, the bronze wolf, sped through the forest in fear of himself, ignoring his mother's calls for him and oblivious to two vampires watching in the shadows of the trees. Jane and Isabella allowed Charles to pass them, knowing that they would find him soon enough... but only if they stopped Renesme.

"Nessie?" Isabella stopped her, Renesme stumbling to an awkward standstill. Her eyes were red, her nose was running and her heart was breaking all over again.

"Charles!" Renesme called but he was gone in the depths of the trees, the skies turning to a sudden angry grey and darkening her world.

"Let him go, Nessie" Isabella said softly and Renesme made to move, to run after him.

"I think its time you let me do my job, Isabella" Jane drawled.  
"Just this once" Isabella said rigidly, unwillingly, backing away and allowing Renesme three seconds of pursuing after Charles before Jane rendered her daughter immobile in a flood of pain-Renesme trembling into the air mid run, a long grating tormented cry escaping her mouth and shattering her lungs.

"This is for your own good, Renesme" Isabella said softly "That boy... _your _boy, you should forget about him. He will cost you everything, Nessie... he is the devil walking, I can see it. I know all about devils..."

"Aaaargh!" Renesme cried but Jane, sensing that not many an opportunity would present its self like this-raked her gift all over Renesme's half human mind with as uch intensity and abandon as she could master in the few seconds it was permitted.

"Enough" Isabella commanded, Renesme dropping to the wet ground and curling into a feeble ball, little whimpers escaping her "Jane, I said enough...!"

Renesme's light was dimming, as feeble as it had bee in her soul; it had finally been put completely out. Misery and pain were her companions and her mind was lost to the cold-she understood one thing, one last sane comprehension of who she was. She was alone; no Jacob, no Charles, no Edward and no Leah...

Just...

Alone.

The night turned thick with a frozen storm cloud and as Isabella left her daughter with the flimsy hope that Renesme's immortality would save Renesme like Isabella thought it had saved herself; Renesme's humanity lay exposed and raw on the cold forest floor -and the darkness was coming in from all angles and circling its pathetic form, stalking and waiting to claim its prey . It would snow soon, as it always did in the little town on Christmas...

And she would succumb to her fate.

Xx~xx~xX

**Authors Note:**

**I do apologize for failing to explain the cliff hanger and then taking a little while to resolve it...! This chapter was very fast paced, but I do pride myself in it not being over SIX thousand words! A lot of broken _some things _eh?**

**There is quite a bit of hoo-ha about Charles and Leah's kiss. Trust me, it would be suicidal to the story to suddenly put Leah out of character so extensively-which I think it would be out of character if she just skipped merrily to some unknown destination and left her imprint to his own unbalanced devices. I would like everyone to remember that when it is in a certain characters perspective it would be biased by their standpoint. So with regards to Charles, he doesn't _really_ know the old Leah... so he would be a bit naïve when handling her.**

**So, erm, we will see each other in the next chapter... that will begin in Leah's long missed perspective... ;-) (I had done a plot outline on it, so hopefully it won't be a long wait...!) There will be Quileute Wolves!**

**And you know how I love to hear your thoughts on things... I was going to suggest reading the first The Greatest Gift before this... to get the feel but here is hoping that you felt the emotional rollercoaster as I did! Kinda like a mid story three part finale or something...**

**Xx**

**Tj**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer, disclaimer... not mine and such. I apologise to those who may have read the first upload, it was the unedited version. Apologies.**

**LOGIC, ANYONE?**

Sometimes you have to go through a little bad to get to the good.

I was going through the worst, the vile... the depthless wicked. Every mile in the opposite direction from him heaved sand over my heart, buried us alive. It was going against every fibre of my being to let the distance roll over us... but I had stopped trusting my body and mind a long time ago. Dealing with Charles required I throw logic out the window, and all that logic ever seemed to scream out to me was for me to latch on to him... to pull him to me, and save him from himself.

The worst sort of ambiguity when it came to reality was always going to be _logic_. The worst sort of crutch when it came to matters of immortal existence was always going to be the logic in regards to _that_ very reality, more especially if you were a new immortal; your every sensibility was compromised by the influence of your only recently departed mortality.

And it was all pointless in the end, trying to rationalize and infuse it all with reason. Pointless, all of it because it didn't matter that the logic to my immortality wasn't as well developed as it should be because everything was already fighting against me, thwarting any hope I had of gathering any sort of comprehension to my current situation. Everything was against us; the imprint wasn't for the rational, being a wolf was going against logic all on its own and then there was the unbalanced science to my immortality and when you tried to juxtapose all of that with _Charles_ and his never ending morphing...

Well, logic could very much go and fuck itself for all its worth. There was no logic here, and the sooner I let go of any hope of anything ever making sense... the sooner I got on with it, with life and eternity, and the sooner I found my weapon so I could stand a sporting chance against him pushing and tugging at the imprint to suit his needs. All that masochistic crap, all of it to cover the fact that he wanted to go on some sort of venom binge epic. Like I hadn't lived through that, I had gone through state and continent to get my ultimate bender, I would recognise it anywhere...

I was on the third bus from some irrelevant town, five minutes from pulling up in Forks after a day and half of travelling. I was aware that I was scowling, I was aware that I was filled to the brim with anger and violence... I was also aware that I had never been in more control over myself despite the chaos inside of me.

"Where are your bags?" Seth looked me over, no smile on his face and then he glanced up at the bus, watching all the other normal folk bustle and bumble off of it. "Where is Charles? Jake said you and him were as thick as thieves again...?"

"Did he say that now?" I asked softly, punching his shoulder lightly. We moved away from the Greyhound, an odd sight in the snowing town with Seth in a light sweater and me... so obviously unprepared for the change in weather. Embry was leaning against a crappy Honda, not helping our strangeness being clad in only a grey t-shirt and a beard.

"Where is the imprint?" was the first thing Embry bellowed, leaning away from the Honda and reaching Seth and I in two large steps "What's up with Jake... he didn't know you were coming?"  
"No, I don't think he _did_" I said, flinching away from the growl that came out of my mouth "But I am sure Charles has informed him by now"

"So you just left... from... _wherever_, without Charles?" Seth asked again, eyeing me. I was aware he hadn't skipped to me and scooped me up in his arms like he used to. I was suddenly acutely awake to the fact that he hadn't done that since... well, since Bella Swan was still a Cullen. Maybe he realised much earlier than I had, that sunshine and rainbows were going against the logic of our immortality. Or maybe, I had realised all of that before the imprint... no, I was more than certain I had realised all of that before I had been rescued by Charles. But the danger was back again, no more sunshine...

"You left Charles behind?" Embry was on a full on scowl mission now, arms folded over his chest and leaning too close to me-call it wolf tactics, reminding me that he was much larger than I was. I let him have his moment to shine; there would be a time when I could remind him that I would always be much fiercer.

"Or did Charles refuse to come with you?" this was Seth. I held my ground, ignoring the anger as desperately as I could manage and looked both Seth and Embry in the eye in alternating controlled flicks.

"I came here to see you, and this is the welcome I get?" I asked them softly.

"Last time I checked, you and Seth went on some suicide mission and then you had to disappear..." Embry began and it was Seth's turn to flinch-I knew he had never gotten over what had happened to Edward, blaming himself for Edward's inbuilt selflessness. It was always the good ones, the ones who barely swore and helped the old ladies cross the roads that were so eager to turn to masochism. And that was why Seth and Edward, especially Carlisle-that was why those three would always be your best comrades in a battle... or your _worst_.

"Well, everything is safe now" I said coolly.

"Leah..." Embry's voice was low, drawing out my name into two parts "Come on, what's going on"  
"Wont you just trust me, for a fucking change?" I snapped.

"I _always_ trust you..." Embry sighed and I looked away from the wistful expression threatening his aggravation, I didn't want to be reminded of his _crush_. It must be a Black thing, crushing on Leah and as flattering as it was... we had no time for puppy love in this eternity "But can you blame Seth and I? The last time someone returned from a 'hideout-with-the-Cullen's' party, and without their imprint... they spent almost a year as a wolf and then they were never the same!"

I blanched. It did look like that, didn't it? And it was almost in the same circumstances, wasn't it? Renesme had killed someone, first kill and all-perfect Nessie, and someone had seen, and everyone had panicked and Jacob had forgiven her... all the way to covering and protecting his imprint and then suddenly, Jake was back in La Push and Seth was sending me emails to come home. Emails that I had ignored...

"It's not the same" I lied. "I came to..."  
"Cut the crap, Leah" Embry snapped "It doesn't suit you; you've never been a bullshitter so why start now?"

"Charles asked me to leave" I whispered, frown back in place. As saddening as it had been for those first few hours of sitting on the bus, of reflecting... I was only filled with anger at the memory. Not for the way I had handled it, or that I hadn't really fought as hard as I knew I could have... and I had been raw and weak, things that Charles could pluck out of me so easily. No, I was angry at Charles. I had never really been angry at him, call it imprint perfection-but I was mad. I was murderously irritated.

This had been the kid I had raised, and I hadn't realised I had raised him to be so... _calculating_. Or maybe Renesme didn't need to have been around to have an influence on him or something.

He had said the imprint didn't need to change for us, he had said it was a nonentity for us and then he went and tried to use it against me, to push me to leave-all while singing that very song. I knew something that the recently forgotten Jacob Black had never known-the imprint was a two way street. And that was the one constant about imprinting, and maybe I had known this unlike all the other imprinters because I was a _girl. _'The Imprinter becomes whatever the imprint needs' or maybe the imprinter _insinuates _what she needs from him... maybe the imprinter plants a seed for leverage, because if there was going to be a power struggle; if there was going to be a power struggle between Charles and I, by hell and heaven, I was going to become the Hulk to his Loki, and avenge our old selves.

I had to remind myself that I had been an adult first, and that I had been a lot more dangerous than he was... I had been the dreaded _Leah_. I had to remind myself that I was just that, Leah No-Bullshit Clearwater and not some ditzy girl falling for a pale immortal with perfect hair that danced like sacred fire... and perfect _terrifying_ eyes that seemed to reflect my very soul; something dangerous and wicked, fragile and innocent... and broad shoulders that deceived themselves into thinking they could carry the weight of the world...

And stupid soft lips that I had pushed a spoon filled with puree through once, and that used to say my name with adorable sovereignty. All was fair in love and war... and this was just that, love and war. Not one or the other, both... because when had fate ever giving me a break?

"He asked you to leave?" Embry repeated, his hairy face scrunching up and large eyes widening in childlike confusion, like I had asked him a trick question instead of telling him the truth. "Why?"  
"Didn't Jake tell you what happened with Charles when we got back from Brazil?" I asked Seth and he pursed his lips.

"He told me Charles had some difficulties... with Nahuel. I told you this Em!" Seth patted Embry's arm indicatively and Embry rolled his eyes.  
"That can hardly be called a difficulty; the boy chewed his mother's abusive boyfriend's arse! That was an '_easy' _at the least" Embry scoffed.

"Embry, the part about 'sucking Nahuel's blood'!" Seth hissed and Embry let out another scoff, walking back to the car, Seth and I in tow. I went over to shot gun, Seth grumbling about my not waiting until tomorrow to pull the older sister card.

"This isn't the older sister card, little bro" I sighed "This is the Beta card, or for now... the temporary Alpha card"

"Wasn't it your birthday yesterday?" Embry asked.

"None of that shit matters. We can celebrate my twenty something birthday more thoroughly in a few decades time, if it suits you" I said ""You remember too much, Call"

"It gets irritating" Seth added "...in a slightly stalker slash pervy way"

"Oh, shut it, Clearwater squared" Embry grumbled.

Xx~xx~xX

The car drove as crappily as it looked, and Embry drove it as dangerously as he looked with his full beard. Everything about Forks was different and yet the same. New buildings, old trees, new stores, old trees... new faces, old trees. It was the perfect type of development, knowing that our play ground would always be there no matter what.

"I am surprised you aren't all 'eew' about the whole Nahuel being fed on thing" I asked Embry and he shrugged, dark eyes hardening.

"I don't know..." Embry frowned "I am surprised you all didn't see that one coming. The kid looks like Edward... I mean, if the leech's vampire genes refused to let him look like Jake when he is _half_ Quileute and only a quarter _dead_..."  
"He does look like Jake!" I yelped and Embry looked at me from the corner of his eyes "I mean, when he smiles and when he isn't... so pale..."

"So what?" Seth scoffed "He needs a tan?"

"How often does he smile?" Embry asked casually. "Because that might explain why he is still _little_ Charles and not big daddy Charles!"  
"Dude, that's my sister?" Seth grumbled.

"So you figured it out before all of us?" I ignored his jab and the memory it brought of my attempted platonic kiss, which turned angry and beautiful too fast.

"You all knew" Embry sighed. "But that isn't the problem, because if he was going to go all 'vampire', he would have gone all vampire completely. He attacked Nahuel, he did the whole almost dying thing when Tanya got a hold on him... and all times, he changed, didn't he?"

"Yeah" Seth agreed absently, leaning in awkwardly between the gap in Embry and me's seat. "So, why did he ask you to leave?"  
"No, the important question is how did he get you to agree to leave him?" Embry asked.

"He didn't get me to agree..." I looked out to the familiar change in forestry as we entered La Push, the trees taller, wilder "I just let him _think_ he did"

"So you faked it?" Embry asked "Leah, that's mean"

"Sure, whatever. We are habituating with a human... something interesting for you" I said "An old schoolmate of Isabella and Edward"  
"Yeah, he must be old" Seth laughed.

"_She..._" I sighed, staring at the dreaded Swan house as Embry parked the car behind an unfamiliar new truck. "It's a she... her name is Angela Weber"  
"Jake mentioned" Seth said stiffly.

"Uh, yeah... since that name doesn't sound familiar nor did I get invited to Seth and Jake's private get-together, could I get a recap?" Embry said irritated.

"Isabella used her to spy on us" I said shortly.

"Us?" Embry frowned, opening his door and letting in a sharp breeze, the kind of icy cold that our hot skinned loved-nothing like the undead variety.  
"Yeah, you got it kid... us as in 'The Wolves'" I said "but you knew this"  
"I didn't know there was a human spy! I didn't know that the Cullen's were thick enough to house said human spy under their roof with the questionably immortal Charles!" Embry stared at me in astonishment "Are you... are you all there, up there?" he tapped the side of his head hard.

"Oh, please! Angela? I bet you would like her... a lot actually. You always had a thing for older women, right?" I laughed, ignoring the dread working in me at the thought of Charlie and his cantankerous ancient self and Sue's game of twenty one questions. "She's... charming... in a very... human way. I missed it. I forgot about it and if I had known I would be coming back... I would have brought her with me. I mean, she would be safe with you guys, right?"  
"So you are okay with Bella's spy being left alone with your imprint?" Embry asked, never answering my question and I was all too aware that Seth had remained silent on the subject of Angela returning to La Push under the protection of the Quileute.

"I am more concerned for those _left_ with my imprint" I laughed grimly "Charles... he isn't the way you remember him, Em. Not even you, Seth. I am not sure what Jake has told you..."  
"That Charles is Edward only he can _actually_ be scary and has Jake's temper occasionally?" Seth said quickly.

"Okay, uhm... then you pretty much got the picture" I said deflated. The front door of the house opened and Sue hobbled out, beaming and behind her was the man who should have been born impotent-Charlie Swan, looking less timid and more unagreeable than ever.

Old age tended to override logic when it came to fear-what did you have to fear when death could find you in your sleep?

"Leah!" Sue called and Charlie frowned a little more, shadowing Sue's happy shuffle into the snow, her hands spread out for a hug although all three wolves hadn't exited the car.

"Are you staying here?" Embry asked me.

"Isn't this where Seth is staying?" I asked. "I thought the old house got repossessed?"  
"It did" Seth said, ending all further inquires with those two words.

"Uh... so aren't you staying here, Seth?" I pressed quickly, counting on Sue and Charlie's matrix gait to get as much information as possible before we had to pretend to be happy family with Isabella's father.

"He isn't" Embry answered, failing to hide some cryptic smug grin "You can stay with me, and you wont have to wake up to the sound of Charlie's farts"  
"He doesn't fart" I snapped. "Show some respect... the man fathered Judas!"  
"Everyone farts" Embry said solemnly "Even the Pope, Leah. Even the Pope. Now, are you staying with me or what?"  
"But your mum...?" I began and his smile faltered.

"She doesn't mind a lot of things, these days" he said. "I'll take that as a yes?"  
"It's a yes" I sighed, exiting the car "Just keep the leg humping to a minimum"  
"You never used to mind" Embry teased. "Damn the imprint, once more!"

"Guy's, I am right here!" Seth huffed.

"Do you hear something, Leah?" Embry asked.

"Nope" I said seriously "Nothing but the air moving beside us"

Xx~xx~xX

"Where is Charles?" Charlie hadn't even greeted me, no smile and most certainly not a hug-and unlike back in the days of him being a lucid police chief, I couldn't say he was scared of me. Maybe wary, and only from habit but not fear.

I missed the old Leah.

"He is with his mother and father" I answered and his dim eyes widened.

"Nessie?" he whispered in veneration and I nodded tersely "Why didn't she come and visit!?"

"She is dealing with things, with her father and Jacob" I said and he accepted this answer too.

"Oh, things had gotten _really_ bad" Charlie sighed, leaning back into his crusty chair that had survived too many decades. "Have you heard from... my daughter?"  
"Have _you_?" I asked him instead and he sighed.

"Just he regular deposit in my account" Charlie sighed "She was never really..."  
"Human" I said without thought, Seth choking on his drink and Embry paying too much attention to America's Next Top Model suddenly and Sue frowned at me.

"I was going to go for communicative" Charlie said dryly. "And Jacob, how is he?"  
"Better, a lot better" I said. "Listen, I erm... came to say hi. Mum, I am not staying here..."  
"Where are you going to go?" Sue rose from her seat, eyes wide and lower lip quivering-preparation for an argument, or a bullying. My mother had more frown lines, crinkles at the corner of her mouth but all it pointed out to me was that she laughed more, she was happy... with that old bugger named Charlie, she was happy.

"Erm..." I looked over at a grinning Embry, wishing he hadn't lost his virginity and was still an awkward shy sweet boy and didn't look like some freaky cunning wolf with bad intentions with his beard. "Embry"  
"Well, then that means that Seth and Embry are staying in La Push, then?" Sue said in a satisfied tone.

"Staying in La Push?" I asked "Haven't they been here the whole time?"  
"Look at the time!" Seth got up stretching and then surprising Charlie in a hug before patting his head "We got to go. You know, things to do... human's to keep safe from vampires..."  
"Vampires?" Charlie froze and Seth's gob dangled in surprise. He hadn't meant to say that.

"Where have you been staying if you haven't been in La Push?" I asked Seth and he looked over to Embry.

"Listen, I don't know about him... but I clock in regularly with my mum" Embry said, raising his hands "Mrs Swan..."  
"It's Clearwater" I corrected him absently.

"Erm, Sue..." Embry said instead "You know this"

"I want to know about the vampire, Seth" I ignored Embry and held Seth's gaze until he was fidgeting.

"Well, erm... there was a scent..." Seth smiled sheepishly "It wasn't Isabella's or any of the Volturi..."  
"Yeah, they give off a certain... pretentious staleness" Embry offered and I waved him off.

"But you know, we are trying to help Sam with his boy" Seth looked over to Sue quickly "And you know, Billy is almost got it under control, so Embry and I decided to take care of it _alone._ We've been camping out in the woods, by Canada. Embry has to run the distance back daily..."  
"That's dangerous Seth" I said sombrely "That's dangerous and of course you would take it upon your self to flirt with danger!"

"Leah, come on..." Seth implored "You of all people should understand why we have to go to all lengths to help a _child _remain a _child! _There is no need for those boys to go through what we went through"  
"It is a leech!" I hissed.

"They come scouting here occasionally" Embry said softly "No deaths, not even in Port Angeles. It's obvious what they are doing"  
"And what is that?" I snapped.

"Waiting on the Cullen's" Seth said softly.

Or waiting on Charles and Renesme.

Xx~xx~xX

Charles had been right; the past was dangerous and I had been just that.

Somewhere along the lines of imprinting on Charles, I forgot who I was. Who I had been, and I had gladly submitted to disregarding that girl. She had been all about impulse, all about self destruction and inhibition to the highest extent. She had been dangerous... oh, she had been a terror. Nothing to find honour in...

Bu she had been me for a long time, that frightful woman with wild hair and eyes. The girl who went and searched for danger, who lost herself in a continent, the girl who could wake up naked and sober with dozens of empty bottles of Vodka around her in some apartment in Russia.

And to disregard her was to disregard myself.

"You going to tell me what's really going on?" Embry asked, opening the door and stepping aside so I could enter. Seth had already skipped off into the woods, not bothering to pretend he wasn't heading to some girls house. Back to his old ways, or was it the new ways he had established after his old self had failed to imprint-no logic and thus, no bloody sense in trying to understand it anyway.

"What makes you think anything is going on?" I said wearily, peering into the dimness. Just as my inhuman sight got used to the shadows of furniture enough to make out colour, he switched the light on the harshness of the change made me squint.

"I thought we established that you being here without Charles was suspect enough" Embry droned, shuffling me into the lounge.

It was different...

It was an actual lounge, not a room housing two rickety chairs and various wine bottles in nooks and corners. There were couches, chocolate leather ones and actual little trinkets that made the room homely.

"Erm, so... where is your mum?" I asked him, suddenly shy at witnessing this improvement. Just because time stood still for us immortals, didn't mean it had to be that way for the mortals in our eternity... but Embry's mother, she wasn't in our eternity for too long for her to be concerned with improving on her humble abode after spending the majority of Embry's life showing in any way possibly that she was disgruntled by her move to La Push and for having a child with one of its anonymous inhabitants.

"Asleep" Embry said shortly, waving his hand for me to take a seat before sitting on the coffee table opposite the seat he had pointed out. "Up stairs, she is on medicine for her Alzheimer's so..."

"She has Alzheimer's?" I asked him, aware that my eyes were too wide.

"Yeah, the nurse leaves her at about five... it hasn't progressed to anything drastic" he said, visibly uncomfortable with my absent prodding on the subject. "She is fine, Leah. Occasionally, she cries for her gin... but she is fine. Can we talk about you and Charles, now?"  
"There is nothing to talk about" I said and then in annoyance "Since when did you become Quil and Jacob rolled in one?"  
"Since the initial moved out of La Push with Claire" he said this with control, an underlying twitch of bitterness working in him "And the latter swapped me for Seth as his best friend"

"So this is you having an identity crisis or have you always had a trio personality, or does 'Embry' not count as a personality. He was kind of a non-character"  
"This is you evading the subject?"

"This is me thinking you are being too nosey"  
"I am a wolf" he said this matter-of-factly.

"I can tell" I touched my beardless chin indicatively and he rolled his eyes.

"I just haven't had the time"  
I laughed and pointed at his hair "You can't shave but your hair is so obviously conditioned"

"You should try conditioner sometime" he smiled "Okay, it helps with being immortal if you pretend to be a vague cousin of so and so, and alter your appearance"  
"You are lying" I stated.

"You are good" he commended. "But that old woman up there..." he looked up at the ceiling "She was better than you could ever hope to be, so don't think I will back down"  
"The joy's of being immortal" I sighed, leaning back into the couch and crossing my legs "You get to double back and be good at everything you never were good at before. For instance, you aren't a virgin anymore... took you a life time, but look at you!"  
"Are we never going to forget that?"  
"If you forget, would that re-virgin-nize you?"  
"Leah..." he warned, his hidden expression behind the beard still shining through and reminding me that even if he was in denial, he was Billy Black's son. "You are over compensating"  
"You would know all about that, Mr Shiny Hair" I winked at him and he heaved a sigh, shaking his head.

"You are over compensating for being away from Charles" he stated and that doused my heated cockiness with ice. I stared at him in a mixture of disbelief and outrage; I hadn't expected him to go there, not Embry. "I know you are going to tell Seth what is really up, everyone tells Seth everything" again, the hidden bitterness.

"It must be his happy disposition and smooth face" I grumbled, staring at a vase with yellow flowers. I remembered Jacob planting something similar at our one house, I wasn't sure where Renesme had been. I had made fun of him for coping with everything through gardening... and then he got me back by drinking like a fish instead.

"You should be a terrorist" Embry said.

"No, I think you should be a terrorist" I countered. "This is a suicide mission. You and I were never really the best of friends"  
"You don't have a best friend" he smiled.

"You aren't Jacob, stop trying to be..." I said airily and his eyes froze in mid humour and concern, anger and some of that weird bitterness seeping into them.

"Bellow the belt, Leah" he said stonily.

"Stop asking me questions I don't want to answer _Embry_" I said "I don't want to make you feel like we are all getting on with our immortality without you, and leaving you to your mum and everything..."  
"Who is so obviously not going to be around for longer, right?" he said in a horrid derisive manner that was again, reminiscent of Jacob's cruel sarcasm as a deflection. "And I... poor Embry Call, has just gotten it all right after decades of _failing at everything_! All of it is organised and making sense... except... I can't seem to stop phasing and this life seems to be dragging along. I mean, even Billy the Kid can go two weeks without a phase but not me..."

"And not Seth" I said.

"Leah, is it horrid?" he asked me softly "That her sickness is exactly what my mother and I needed?"  
"It's the most logical thing there is" I said and he let his head fall, long hair hiding his face.

"It's like I am waiting on her to die, sometimes" he whispered, never raising his head and I was afraid he was crying. I couldn't deal with tears right now, especially from a Quileute Neanderthal. I couldn't deal with Embry coaxing emotional disaster from me, because mine was the plague. And it was best to keep Pandora's Box locked up because I wasn't immune to the effects of the imprint. I wanted to run back to him, I wanted to stay and curl up into a ball sucking my thumb just to please him... I wanted to yell and scream and rip everything apart.

But then, all that would leave is no solution. No weapon, no understanding... no logic. Logic was comprehension and knowledge was a weapon, wasn't it? What was the logic of a boy turning into a wolf and discovering that his anonymous father was possibly the father of one of his best friends? Or a series of events leading to the realisation that his closest friend was very likely his half brother? All happening under the misery and tyranny of his own alcoholic mother...

Where was the logic in that? It wasn't there... until now, in the neat little house without the smell of alcohol and cigarettes, where Embry's mum was probably medicated out of her mind. And Embry now looked... neat, clean and fed. Not necessarily loved, but well kept was a start. Maybe he would get the loved part in his next lifetime...

"Charles feeds on vampires" I rasped.

"Come again?" Embry raised his head, one eyebrow quirked up "I thought you said Charles feeds on vampires, funny huh?"  
"Yeah, plenty funny" I didn't smile and he stared at me.

"He feeds... on... vampires?" Embry said slowly and I nodded my head once, stiffly. "And you know this... for certain?" his eyes were wide on my face.  
"He was begging for Nahuel... and then Nahuel left and he was begging for every other leech" I said softly, not adding the little detail of him begging for every other supernatural being when Nahuel-the magic blood-rolled-in-venom Wonder had left with all non beating heart holders.

"And then...?"

"And then Jake Alpha'd him" I said and then added quickly, in case this got back to a grumbling anti-hero Jacob "But Jake didn't want too. Nessie asked him to"  
"Of course, on both accounts" Embry said stiffly. "Does Jake know?"  
"Know that Charles..."  
"No, not about Charles" Embry said "About me and him. Is that why he avoids speaking to me, phasing out when I phase in?"  
"We were talking about Charles, not your abandonment issues" I snapped and his eyes flashed. The air crackled for a good few minutes, Embry daring me to let a ripple escape through my body... and my own anticipation at releasing intense emotional trauma on him.

It also helped to know that I had the ability to temporarily Alpha him.

He didn't let us test the future on that, shaking the tension off and smiling sheepishly at me.

"Just tell me, please?" Embry asked "He forgot about it and then we were cool again, you know, really cool... and then suddenly, he doesn't want to talk to me"  
"I don't think he knows about _that_ particular detail about Billy" I said. "I think he has a lot going on in his mind and Seth was there... you know, with the whole Nahuel thing in South America. Seth is my brother, Seth knows Charles and I think Jake was scared you would judge Charles about the blood and venom thing if you knew... and he wouldn't have been able to not think about it"  
"Right" Embry sighed, half bought by my theory.

"Oh, and uhm... there is Renesme. You sort of hate her guts"  
"He hates her guts too" Embry frowned. "Why should he be bothered by that?!"

"Who knows what goes on in a teenage _male _wolf's mind" I smiled at him and he returned my grin timidly.

"I am glad that's of my chest"  
"Not as bad as you thought?"  
"No, not by a mile..." Embry breathed.  
"You always had a knack for doom and gloom" I sighed.

"Could you blame me?" he winked rising up and stretching. "You can sleep in my room... I have to go and find Seth. Your brother is on a 'I haven't imprinted and I am going to live immortally alone' spree"

"I thought he was getting better after Brittany" I sighed.

"Oh, then there was Ashley" Embry yawned "He broke her wrist"  
"He broke her wrist?" I stared at Embry in shock.

"Accident"  
"Of course it was an accident, this is Sethie we are talking about!"  
"Sethie..." he was about to laugh and then thought better of it when I frowned "Right, erm... Sethie seems to think he can't live without sex"

"Can you live without sex?" I asked him.

"Can _you_ live without sex?" he asked me and we just stared at each other like idiots before breaking out in nervous chuckles.

"Of course I can" I laughed, ignoring the past year and all its gloriously beautiful events centred around certain growth spurts.

"Yeah, me too" he agreed. "Who needs sex, right?"

"I don't... I am imprinted" I pointed out, deciding that adding 'to a child' would be too much of a stretch in my non-lie "But you aren't..."

"Erm, okay... I can't" he admitted and added coolly "But I can stretch it. That's the trick, stretching them out and meditating..."  
"He should never have fallen in love" I sighed, shaking my head.

"I don't think this is about falling in love Leah"  
"Then what is it about!"  
"I think you need to face the facts" he said wryly "Your brother is a dog, albeit a cute loveable loyal one when it comes to platonic establishments... but a dog nonetheless. And ever since he returned from South America, and you know... the whole Edward de-limbed thing... he has been an _unstable_ dog"

"So what, you want me to put him down?!"  
"That's a bit inhumane Leah! Even for you! I mean, just... be your usual understanding self" he smiled "And neuter him or something"

Xx~xx~xX

Who was I kidding, I wasn't staying here long. Embry and Seth were right about one thing, supernatural activity attracts supernatural activity and in essence-the Quileute would never be as well protected if there were no giant wolves and vegetarian vampires loitering the woods.

I wasn't staying long, but at least I had found my self something to do other than submit to depression or run back and have the fight to rival all imprint fights with Charles.

We would leave, not too far away... maybe Alaska since the Denali coven where not in Denali anymore. I would have to do the right thing... and talk to Sam and the rest of them, out of respect because whatever the council said, it wouldn't matter any more.

They had no say, this was out of Quileute territory.

I had no doubt that Charles plan to send me away was to eliminate the one person who would stop him from running off. Renesme... could I count on her not to give in to her guilt and allow Charles his every wish? I didn't need to be a telepath to know that Jacob had gone through enough hurt and he was leaving, he was leaving the pack... and this time, he had nothing tangible holding him to us.

I couldn't sleep, and it wasn't because Embry's mom snored almost as badly as Embry. There was something sitting on my chest, a dark force that was steadily applying pressure and suffocating me. It was trying to squash any hope, refusing light to pierce the darkness

How dare I be strong, it would whisper scathingly and something about it, the voice, made me want to submit to the easiness of weakness.

It felt like tomorrow was the end of the world... the end of life and even death. A voice kept asking me what the point was, that I knew that Charles's intentions were not to be found, that I knew that Charles was exactly like his father and would want to lose himself to his instincts...

What instincts would a part vampire and part Shapeshifter have?

What instincts indeed.

Xx~xx~xX

It didn't go as badly as I thought it would, and that was only because I had somehow forgotten Sam didn't phase anymore... and all we had to go through was Emily reminding him about his blood pressure here and there and no actual biting and tearing.

"Leave the tribe unprotected?" Sam shook his head. "No"  
"I think you are confused, Sam" I said sweetly "This was me simply _informing_ you on what is about to take place, you know... respecting your elders and ancients and all of that... I was not asking for your permission. You are, however, more than welcome to have your personal opinions"  
"You are leaving?" Collin frowned "I thought you didn't even stay here?"  
"No, _we_ are leaving" Seth pointed at himself, me and Embry.

"I'm coming" Bradley piped, grinning and then nudging Collin hard in the ribs "We are going, right Collin...buddy?"  
"Going where?" Collin asked dumbly.

"With Leah, dude! That's what we've been talking about for the past fifteen minutes! Going with Leah... to some action, right?" Bradley looked at me with a frown "There will be action right? The vampire getting torn up variety because if there isn't then... ah, who am I kidding, even then I am coming"  
"All I can say is... I never thought immortality was so hazardous" I stated and both Bradley and Collin grinned excitedly.

"Leah, no" Sam cut his hand through the air "_Never_"  
"Did you hear what I said?" I asked him slowly "The Volturi, they are not concerned with little minority groups... they are concerned with giant wolves! And if there are giant wolves mingling with said little minority group... then little minority group will become extinct by association!"

"And that bit about Joham?" Seth offered.

"And Joham too" I said, dropping my voice for effect and shaking my head. "If they all decided to attack La Push, it wouldn't be because they were jealous of our fishing ground..."

"Fish are in water, Leah" Embry whispered and I ignored him.

"...or our wholesome maidens..." I looked at a very full Emily indicatively "... or lovely black hair, minus you Embry"  
"Yeah, erm... my grandfather was a paleface" Embry said apologetically, touching his dark brown hair self consciously.

"Where is Jacob?" Sam asked suddenly, a look of triumph on his face.

"With his son, evading said dangers?" I kept my voice even. "What, you wanted him to come trotting back to you and leave his son to the vampires, all because you have gender issues?"  
"Is she ever going to stop with that?" Sam asked Emily, pointing an accusatory finger at me "Are you ever going to stop with that?"  
"Whose the immortal one here?" I scoffed. "I can go on forever, unlike you. So to answer your question; no, I will never stop"

"So I take it I can pray on you being civil with me on my death bead only" Sam said touchily.

"On your funeral, Sam" I said. "Only because there is no fun in having a monologue"  
"Right" he mumbled. "Not because you would be mourning me?"

"I already mourned you" I said "I mourned your six pack and both your scalp and I mourned your hair"

"Ehm" Rachel coughed.

"Where is Charles?" Paul asked.

"I just said he is with Jacob" I snapped.  
"Where?" Paul insisted, even in his upstanding normalness... he was trying me, still eager to get chewed.

"With Jacob and Renesme!" I growled. "If it tell you where, I would be putting you at risk!"  
"From the... human spies littered all over our lands?" Jared asked sceptically and I groaned "No offence, Leah... its all sounding very... double oh seven"

"You used to turn into a giant dog! Does that sound normal to you!" I snapped.

"But spies on La Push..." Jared said, pulling his voice out into a dubious whine "I mean, who on earth would be the spy?"

"You could be a spy, Jared" Seth grinned and then pointing at Paul "You could also be a spy Paul. Because you are all _human_ and littered all over the land!"  
"Whose side are you on Seth?" I hissed at him.

"Sorry" Seth muttered soberly, leaning back into his seat.

"This would have been easier if you could phase and weren't in constant constipation" I sighed.

"So you are heading back to Charles and Jacob?" Rachel asked and this time, I wasn't irritated by having my every second wasted _talking _and repeating myself. Rachel, unlike everyone, wasn't bothered that I had charged in here and taken the reins.

"Eventually" I said.

"Is my brother alright, Leah?" Rachel asked stiffly "Is he... he is okay?"  
"He is okay" I said softly and she let it go then, falling out of the buzz and talk momentarily until her son decided to be heard.

"I want to go" Billy announced and Rachel shot up with a "Most certainly not!"

"Billy, no" I said "It's dangerous and you are doing well with the... not phasing"  
"Doing well with becoming irrelevant?" he said "Doing well with having no purpose?"  
"Being human is purpose enough" I said strongly and he shook his head.

"I am coming" he stated, looking at Paul briefly "I am going with you"

"Billy..." I tried again, watching the hurt and anger flashing over Paul's eyes "Please, stay with your folks. Embry and Seth are experienced wolves... Collin and Bradley too"  
"Well, how am I going to become an experienced wolf if I am sitting here doing nothing?"  
"Being a wolf isn't a career choice" Paul stated "It's a commitment. It's life and it will demand as much as it can from you, Billy. I know I can't stop you and I know neither Jacob nor Leah would listen to me if I asked them to stop you for me... but I have to ask you, son. Stay?"

"Jacob will take care of me" Billy said and I cringed. Jacob was in no condition, nor was he willing to take care of anyone. But they couldn't know that.

"I'll take care of him" Embry piped "I'll make sure he calls Paul""

"Did Charles phase?" Paul asked suddenly and I froze. He asked again "Did Charles phase?"  
"Uh... yes" I whispered. "He can phase"  
"He can but he doesn't?" Paul asked and I nodded. "He doesn't want to, that's it right"  
"He doesn't need to" I explained, tensing visibly at all the prying.

"Leah, you are hiding something" Rachel murmured "Something big"  
"I am" I stated "And its big, you are right about that. But it has nothing to do with the tribe. It is all on me"

"I am holding you responsible, Clearwater" Sam stated "For this. If this turn out any other way than the one you have promised... you are being held accountable"  
"No pressure" Jared added.

"Even jailed to two legs and with wrinkles so deep I could lodge a coin in them..." I snapped "You are still going to be his bitch, eh Jared?"  
"There are kids here, Leah" Paul tutted, speaking of his teenage son who looked twenty five and Sam's hulking boy sitting quietly by Emily. "So can you put the fangs away, and be a nice she-wolf and don't blow our huts down?"

"I'll try my best" I said solemnly.

Xx~xx~xX

Who better to remind me of who I was, than the people who had shaped me. My family, my friends, even my ex and the very soil of La Push. All the things that I loved and that loved me. All the things that I could find hope and strength in.

"We are doing this, huh?" Seth asked "Leaving. For good?"

"We don't have a part in this life anymore, Seth" I said softly "And Billy, if you really want to take on the career of being a wolf... you will learn that you have no business trying to be mortal. Like Seth... you need to accept that you are an immortal being and submit yourself to it and leave all _breakable _humans well alone..."

Seth pretended not to understand what I was referring to, while Billy continued to twitch nervously. We were at the old meeting ground by the dockyard, all last phasing wolves save for Sam's son.

"Billy, this is your last chance..." I warned and Billy held firm, controlling his expression. "Seth has shown you the kind of things that await us, things that I have no business telling your parents... they aren't a part of our world even if they once were. This only for us to know, because only we can understand it. Only we can... give it logic. There are Werewolves, there are vampires and there might be more things out there... things that go bump in the night, things that are malevolent and beautiful. Billy, there is immortality and then there is fatality... and I am tittering exactly between the two"

"You say they aren't a part of _our_ world" Billy said thoughtfully "Sometimes, it's more like I am not a part of _their _world. Like I am forcing it, every two weeks of no phasing and every controlled expression. I am forcing it. Maybe when I imprint, maybe... but not now"

"Kid wants the adventure!" Bradley chuckled.

"Well, you all had it, didn't you?" Billy asked.

"What, one new born fight and then a conference with a bunch of antiquities?" Collin scoffed, rolling his eyes "Nope, doesn't sound like adventure to me, sounds like a day job... but _Werewolves, _actual werewolves! Now, there is an adventure worth living for!"

"The question is, is it worth dying for?" Seth asked grimly, eyeing me. He would be with me on this, I had always known that but the rest of them... a much as I needed a pack right now, I had to let the exit sign shine bright and loud.

"That's what I am telling you" I said "For me, it is. It's worth life and death... turn back now, go back to working on being human. This is your last chance because once we start moving... we wont be able to stop"  
"Lead the way, She-Wolf!" Bradley roared although he was walking ahead, already stripping.

"And seriously, I don't know what you are on about!" Collin kicked his shorts off and busied himself tying them to his leg. "I have never felt more alive!"

The logic to being a Shapeshifter... was as simple and base as being in a pack, together. Free, alive and wild; moving through the air and nature as one. Death was an after thought that only the dying and already dead spared, and let them be jealous of our life.

We knew it better than most, that life and living was the most precious energy out there and we were built for it, it would never burn out for us.

Xx~xx~xX


	13. Chapter 13

**THROUGH THE GRAVE**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**x**

"Jake..."

I had fallen into something sweet, something perfect... an alternate reality. My mother was there, Billy standing by her side and the twins weren't separated by life, united in some preteen activity in the distance...

And Charlie was with Bella.

I was staring right at her, the six year old Isabella Swan, and she was staring right back at me. My mother said something to me, some dull sound that translated to a question. She had asked me if I wanted to go and play with Bella. No, I told her, my voice the only clear thing in the foggy haze of this dream. My mother was pushing me to Bella, reminding me like everyone did including myself, that I loved Bella. Bella was the moon and the stars for me and it was only fitting for me to go and make mud pies with her.

"I don't want to fucking make mud pies" I said irritated, the words escaping from my toddler mouth and somehow this did not shock my mother or my father. This was perfection, nothing could sully it.

"Jake!" again the sharp call from somewhere in the trees. I looked over to them, they were dark and thick-of course they were full, there were no giant wolves yet to trim them down. I looked up at Billy, he was smiling at me and nudging me over to Charlie and Isabella. I took a step forward, glancing warily at the trees. There was nothing in them. Besides shadows and secrets, and that strange sensation that the very trees were watching me.

Go to Bella, my mother was saying. Billy agreeing with her. I should go to Bella and make mud pies, it would be fun. I would get my hands dirty and she would sit there bored and I would watch her and fall in love with her like it was supposed to be.

The twins were too far off to see their faces... in fact, the only faces that I could see clearly were Harry's face and my parents, although everyone that I knew was there. I could only see the dead people's faces, and little adorable Isabella.

This was a nightmare, it was nothing like the sad wistful dream I had had not moments ago. I was panicking, I was terrified... I wanted that feeling of love that had washed through me, begging me to return. I wanted to see my face, as she had seen it-beautiful and pure, angry and heartbroken... I wanted to see myself alive as Renesme had begged me to remain.

"Come and play?" Isabella asked sweetly and I took another step, towards her extended hand. She was holding something, a mud pie maybe...

"Jake!" the cry came from the woods, sharp and yet weak... terribly weak. Something was nudging me; it wasn't Billy or my mother. I couldn't feel their hands even though they lay on my shoulders, steering me to Isabella and a faceless Charlie.

"Jake, she followed him!" the voice cried and I herd myself ask who was calling me, who was talking to me. "It's Angela! Jake... Nessie is gone and I... I'm hurt..."

"Come on Jake, let's make mud pies" Isabella was right in front of me, her cupped hands a breath from touching me and in her hands, there wasn't a mud pie. There wasn't even _mud_... there was, instead, a beating bloody heart. "It's yours" she whispered "You gave it to me, and no one else... let's make mud pies with it?"

"That isn't my heart" my voice, hoarse and pained. I looked from the heart-to her face, and in the six year old little girls face there were two ruby devils eyes staring at me hungrily. "Here is my heart" I touched my intact chest indicatively "In me, its mine... only mine"

"Well then..." Isabella, sweet and six, whispered with an innocent grin "Sharing is caring, isn't it!"  
"JACOB!" that wasn't Angela, that was Edward, and a cold hand gripped my shoulder and pulled me through the ice, and away from Bella. "Jacob, wake up!"

"I'm awake" I said groggily, but the shaking continued before a cold hard whack sent a sobering thrill from my temple to my toes "I said I am awake, stop hitting me you brain-dead _leech!"_

Xx~xx~xX

"Jake...!" Edward's face was too close to my own, his eyes terrifying as they stared right at me. He was gripping me too tight, the already sore muscles of my shoulders twinging and groaning.

"Dude... I hope you didn't kiss me or anything" I said groggily, trying to pry myself from his immovable hands, trying to escape his fiery ice skin. "I mean, that would really be a twist of events... but no thanks"

"He's alright" Edward breathed, releasing me rudely so I fell back on the kitchen floor with a thump. He immediately turned around, busying himself in blurring motions with something and only when he rose up did I realise that it was Angela... and she looked like she was an inch from death. I met her eyes momentarily, and her busted lip tried to smile before her swollen eye shut completely and she lost conscious.

Edward disappeared with Angela in his arms then, and I was left to the realisation that I was naked and my whole right side was on fire.

"What... happened?" I moaned but no one answered. I could hear Angela moaning, the chilly air of the outside seeping in through somewhere that was supposed to be closed. I turned my head stiffly to the right and saw rubble instead of the kitchen island, the sink was missing and the window smashed completely in.

It was like I had been dropped in the middle of a botched home renovation.

"You aren't coming down here any time soon, are you?" I asked Edward, and if he did answer... I was currently in my human form and would have no chance of hearing him. Edward never yelled, or spoke above a certain volume. "You going to leave me to deal with my own broken bones, aren't you?"

"You really think that much of me, huh?" he was by my side once more, tutting and those horrible eyes averted from me. He took his shirt off and draped it over my middle and then carefully tucked it around me before picking me easily from the floor. His fluidity had never been more welcome. I only had a second to cringe in pain before I was in Charles and I's old room in the farmhouse, Angela bundled and draped in bandages on the other bed, the smell of some medicine wafting from her. She was out cold, her hand held up by some make shift _something_ and leg propped on pillows.

"Where is Renesme?" I asked, but then Edward prodded my right side and the question died in the air as I bellowed, the movement of breath through my lungs causing more pain to seep through me and I begged him to stop, cringing and whinging for a few minutes before I managed to remain still.

"Try a little more...!" I croaked, peering at him through hazy moisture filled eyes "Tenderness, dammit!"

"Your ribs are broken" he stated detached.

"You can see that!" I hissed "You didn't need to stick your finger through them!"

"What is shocking me is that you are healing" another technical statement, so alien and clinical-contradictory to my bruised and battered form with his shirt draped precariously over me.

"Why the hell should that be a shock, you freak! I am a bloody wolf!" I growled, trying to steady my breath and stop the ache that came with each intake of air. He didn't give me a chance to recover, tilting his pale head thoughtfully before _forcing _me to go through the pain again, prodding and pressing and moving over me in a blur.

"I would have given you morphine" I think I heard him say, through my moans and groans and tears, the feel of movement inside of me and the occasional differentiation of his coldness from the searing pain "But Angela needed it and there is hardly enough time for me to rush to the hospital and steal some. Also, you are healing too fast Jacob... and truthfully, I don't want to leave Angela unattended"  
"Tylenol?!" I croaked.

"I gave it all to Angela too" Edward said "You're a wolf remember, so deal"

"Hit me over the head...!" I begged "Knock me out cold! Something...!"

"I am sorry Jacob, but a concussion wouldn't help anything if your skull healed all dented" he was enjoying this; I was sure... punishing me for something... taking out his anger... oh, I was burning up, dying all over again... "I am not being cruel..., I just don't think even your regenerative cells would fair well with your head going through panel beating later"

And that was how it came to be that I passed out from pain; Edward Cullen wouldn't leave an unconscious heavily tylenoled Angela to get me a single Aspirin.

Xx~xx~xX

"This place is a mess..." I looked around the lounge; the wall separating it from the kitchen was knocked in and splayed all over the couch and tables.

"You asked me where Renesme was" Edward said, lifting things twice his size and clearing the room in a matter of seconds, a vacuum and a cloth in his hand. His back was turned to me, his face never facing me-obviously aware that I wasn't up to finding out about his _eyes._

"Yes, where is she...?" I murmured, clutching my arm to me, the halter it was in rubbing against my skin.

"She ran after Charles" Edward stated, still too alien-too vampire "I don't know where they are. I can't leave; Angela is in a very bad state"

"She ran after Charles...?" I repeated, trying to remember what had happened. "Charles... maybe he has gone to Leah?" I offered.

"Don't be naïve, Jacob. I know you are mentally young but I need you to think like a man"

I wanted to growl and phase and show him naïve and young. But I couldn't, he was right. Charles didn't make Leah go away only to follow her, and Charles had been feeding on Jane. And Jane had bitten me...

"She bit me!" I gasped, about to touch my neck then I realised my arm was still healing in the holster. "Is it..."  
"Your body burned up the venom... like Charles does"  
"What do you mean 'Like Charles Does'?" I demanded, kicking at the chunky concrete on the hideous carpet. "Shapeshifters are deathly allergic to venom, you of all people should be aware of this"  
"Your body burned the venom up" he repeated, looking at men sternly. I turned my gaze away from his quickly; his horrid pulsing eyes were too much.

"Speaking of oddities, do you want to talk about the purple eyes?" I asked him casually.

"No, I don't" he said quickly "What I want to talk about is how it is you are not poisoned by venom?"

"I don't know. Charles bit me this one time... when he had attacked Nahuel and I didn't react to his venom, though his bite left a scar..."  
"Charles bit you?" Edward cut me and then appearing too close to me he demanded "Where?!"

"On my arm!" I scowled at him "Personal space, what the hell is your issue...?"

"My grandson is as good as a drug addict and my daughter has gone off after him" he said quickly, touching my unharmed arm carefully, he was as unwilling to go through my heat just the same as I was unwilling to go through his coldness but he prevailed. He flipped the arm over and frowned and frowned at it "The wound... ?"  
"It healed" I said "And left a scar... on the hand that is currently healing. And you are not going to do that whole 'no morphine' thing. You can look at it when I have healed"  
"Very well" he said begrudgingly, scowling at my bandaged hand in offence. "That should be healed in about an hour or two"

"You think his bite has something to do with it?"  
"I know it does..." Edward answered "I am surprised you haven't asked me how it is I am on my feet"  
"Charles bit you!?"

"No, I bit him" Edward said sombrely "And to answer the question on my horrid eyes, it's his blood swimming in me"

"What the hell happened?" I whispered.

"You were bitten by Jane and Angela was... harmed" he said this stiffly "I can only hope Renesme returns soon... I doubt she will be able to get Charles to come back with her. I doubt it very much"

Xx~xx~xX

The house was spotless, no evidence of a supernatural show down except for the missing island and knocked in wall. The couches were outside, dusted and stripped of the tacky flower print upholstery and the coffee table lay in a corner as potential fire wood.

"Hey?" I said to the blurring colour whacking away at the wall. He stopped moving, hand full of bricks and cement dust covering his front.

"I have to fix the wall" he stated and I shrugged. I wasn't interested in the home deco situation, and really, why he was interested was besides me. "I don't want Angela to have to see this... how bad it got" he said, working at the wall slowly, fingers gouging through brick and plaster like butter.

"Or maybe you don't want to have nothing to do?" I asked him and he paused, chucking the damaged bricks through the window a good few feet past the yard and onto a pile of rubble in the distance.

"Yes, maybe..." he said grimly "Maybe I don't want to just shut down and wonder on Isabella, Jane and Charles. I don't want to think about how strict Jane and Isabella's orders were to recruit vampires back to Volterra... to get _talented _vampires to the Volturi. Jacob, Alice is gone and Renesme... I have no idea how to get a hold of her; the storm has dispersed with her scent"

"She has to be okay" I said this more to myself than to him. I didn't want to think about Renesme, or the images and emotions that had passed through me before I had had the nightmare about six year old Isabella. She was the ice princess, bronze Barbie for goodness sakes... what was a little cat and mouse game with her idiot son. With _our_ idiot son...

"Isabella was going to wrestle me to Volterra" Edward sneered, shaking his head. "Well, that was what I got from Jane, that was the plan and how ridiculously humorous it must have been for my ex wife to happen upon me limbless and without a sporting chance to remain clear of all royal vampires. Aro wants me there as well as Jasper there too. Alice... I hope she didn't fall for their lies. I hope she didn't end up going. I hope her gift clears and she sees it's all a cruel hoax to capture her"  
"Wait, they came here to get you?"

"They want Alice and I" Edward said stiffly "They have wanted us for so long. They didn't know Renesme was here... I think... Isabella had prayed on our daughter not being here, because Aro wants Nessie too. But Jane knows, and Jane is bitter about having to take orders from anyone who isn't Aro or Caius..."

"So Charles is safe"  
"How can you think that?" Edward frowned "None of us are safe! The plan here was to get Charles, myself and you with them... they had been scouting us for days. They knew the rest of our family..."  
He said our family, I could feel my heart squeeze.

"It is _our_ family, Jacob. You are my brother... we need to let go of the petty bits of our immortality don't you agree?" he asked and I tensed. He had known that I wanted to leave, he had known about my loneliness... telepathy...

"I am still leaving" my voice scratched my throat and heart pricked just the slightest bit. "None of this is... for me. The Volturi want you and Alice, you just said that"  
"And Renesme too" he said.

"They have wanted Renesme forever" I pointed out "And Isabella, you just said she had been trying to keep them from Renesme. I am sure she wont let it get to that"  
"Jacob, don't be naïve" he said softly and I scowled at him.

"Naïve?" I scoffed "Naïve is me staying here just because you abuse your telepathy and pluck at my emotions. I am alone, do you get that?"  
"You aren't..."  
"Cut the bullshit, you and I..." I shook my head "We were never for bullshit"  
"You want me to lay it out for you?"  
"I would rather you don't"  
"Don't you want to know what your decision will mean to others?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow, those purple eyes freakish but infinitesimally better than _red._

"They aren't my responsibility" I whispered.

"Sometimes things transcend responsibility. Sometimes, the connections you make in life..."  
"This isn't life, this is immortality" my heart was hammering, I wanted to get out. I didn't want him to look at me that way, through those eyes and that sadness. I wanted out, I wanted none of it...

"Sometimes in immortality, we don't make connections" his voice was clear, much more real than my emotions and worries. "We don't connect... because connecting requires a common denominator. Sometimes, we touch and we are touched back... just once. It may be... a sweet pure mind, such clarity and simplicity that was never before heard of... such a soul that whose warm radiance was never before felt..." he looked up, wistfully, that etched sadness disarranging his controlled aggravation "And you don't appreciate it when it happens, because you don't know its happening. Jacob, we don't make grand connections over something shared. We touch, just the slightest bit over something so illogical and strange that... we disregard it over simple fact that we don't comprehend it; only because we are not ready to comprehend it just yet. You see, that is where immortality plays a part. We can have all the small touches of the world, because we have all the time to allow them to mature and turn into something rewardingly beautiful and not instantly gratifying in its flamboyance"  
"I didn't understand a thing you just said" I stared at him shaking my head and he gave me another one of his sad smiles "Touch and be touched? The hell? Dude, I am leaving..."

"Jacob, it only feels like you have no one because of your amnesia"

"My amnesia..." I chuckled morosely. "It's _our_ amnesia, Edward. Yours, mine and everyone else's because you all remember the other Jacob and have forgotten me"  
"What, you want me to retain the image of your immature self trying to cause harm to my heart?"  
"If I had caused harm to your heart, you would have been saved the current situation of your ex wife trying to kidnap your family to a psycho monarchy in Italy?"

"Hmm, you do have a point..." he said "And yet, if it all hadn't panned out the way it did... Charles wouldn't exist?"  
"Charles" I immediately thought of Leah.

"And if Charles didn't exist you would have Leah" he said the thought that was refusing to be squashed down in my mind. "Jacob, honestly... the whole memory loss thing, you need to move from it. To grow, stop trying to piece together all the clues and pieces of the person you had grown to be in your forgotten life and just grow anew?"

"Yeah, and I can only do that away from crazy Isabella and Jane!"I laughed. "Leah doesn't need me, the pack doesn't need me... Edward, you don't need me. Admit it, admit it to yourself... all of us would be much better off if we just walked away from this centre, this core... this magnetic force that pulls us all together"  
"Isabella" he said.

"It's all about Isabella, still... even now" I said "Let Carlisle remain away with the rest of the Cullen's, let Charles and Renesme work it all out... just let it be. You can take care of Angela and, just... I don't know. Make sure you don't fall in love with a human, seeing as how venom seems to alter more than just the physical. I don't think I could forgive you if Angela turned evil?"

"It isn't black and white, Jacob"  
"Well, I'm pleading temporary blindness to the whole situation" I backed out of the house and into the white storm of snow outside. "I will see you, in another life time"  
"Jacob" he said.

"Edward"

And I moved away from him, leaving him standing in the gaping wall of the side of the house, covered in dust. It felt like the right thing to do...

It felt like the easy thing to do.

And I was doing it.

Miserably Alone.

Xx~xx~xX

Touch and be touched.

The words ran over my mind, pulled at every unwanted memory and sprung up that image of Renesme's eyes staring into mine. Like she needed me... not _wanted_ me like some object, just needed me... for her own sanity or something. For her reality, and her simple touch had given proof that there really was a reality that was neither black nor white, that was drenched in greyness that the very possibility of white and light ever shining through was unthinkable and yet darkness managed to prevail in there.

My cheek burned from her touch, my nerves ached from the emotions she had seared through them, to my failing heart. Was I being selfish from not wanting to relive the Volturi, to relive Isabella and everything yet again? It was all different, but the difference was as broad as it was acute because once again, I was tangled up in Isabella's mess. Their mess, the Cullen's.

Charles, I couldn't fault him for Leah... he knew he was in the worst possible place and had enough decency to save the ones he loved. And that didn't make him selfish; I owed the kid an apology. He was more a man than I could ever hope... guaranteed he was off on a craze, but he had the guts to do it on his own terms rather than allow it to do him on its own terms.

Who wanted to be trudging through snow on two feet in the midst of unpredictable weather? I just couldn't risk being involved with any other mind than my own... each to his own hell. And I wasn't about to share mine.

I couldn't stop thinking about her, wondering about her... fearing for her. In between my anxiety for Leah, I found I got lost in those terrifying innocent eyes lodged in her twenty something year old face, staring at me with ancient heart break and desolateness. She reminded me of the burning man, of Edward when Bella was supposed to die from being pregnant with her, with Renesme...

"I was about to die..." I whispered, the sound lost in the howling of the wind, the white dust thrashing against me. I had been in the woods for a good forty minutes, the storm thickening.

"That was all it was, none of this be touched and touch back business! She is still Bronze Barbie!" I growled, but still I could see her promising me with her eyes that if I died she would never live again.

I was frightened. She had frightened me more than purple eyes or red ones, with those brown wide eyes of hers and it had nothing to do with them having belonged to Bella first. I hadn't even thought of Bella when I had looked at her, I hadn't even thought of Charles or Edward or anything to do with my recent past or future present...whichever. I had thought that there had never been a being so full of sorrow and despair as Renesme Cullen. That this being was incapable of walking away, from moving in the other direction because she had touched and connected to every being around her since birth, and she was eternally in bondage. Tied up in what every living soul had left on her from simple contact, every sin imprinted on her... she was _bound_. Did she know what freedom tasted like...?

Had I been bound like her? Was this my freedom?

It was terrifying; she frightened me so awfully with her touch because I had always thought she was a cold vampire... I was unprepared to witness the broken human.

I was unprepared to know how desperately fragile she was...

"Jacob!"

"Argh!" I jumped back, but the grip on my ankle was resolute and I fell back in the snow. I was too surprised to let a shiver course through me and phase, staring at the white fingers trying to wind around my ankle.

"Jacob!" it was coming from under the snow, the hand reminding me of all the zombie movies I had ever watched. Everything was pointing to that horror, that there was something dead under the ground trying to pull me under with it but the setting was all wrong.

This was no dark grave yard and the hand was no mouldy corpse. Everything was white, the very air white and the hand was perfectly porcelain.

"Renesme?" I touched her cool hand and it relaxed somewhat but refused to let go of my leg. "Nessie?"  
"Jake..." her voice was muffled, she wasn't yelling out past the snow like before, all that energy she must have burnt up in that supernatural volume. "Help" she peeped.

"Let go of my leg and I can help you!" I said quickly tugging at her hand.

"You'll leave me!" she squeaked, holding on tighter. I felt the awful dread and abandonment in her, I wanted to be away from her touch desperately and not fall through into her emotions.

"I won't... I promise" I whispered and it took her a second to relax her hold, her fingers splaying in the air and her hand looking like some peculiar flower blooming adamantly through the snow. I shovelled around her, pushing snow away and scooping it up and discarding it to the sides.

Her face was covered in white, her bronze hair peeping brilliantly through the snow like lost strands of silk. She rose shakily from her white grave, sitting up in the shallow pit before shaking her full hair free of snow with as much frailness as she had risen.

"What happened?" I asked her softly and she spat out a mouth full of snow, rubbing her tongue furiously with the heel of her hand.

"My mother and Jane happened" she said absently. "I just... woke..." she stuttered, her eyes widening as some realisation hit her. "Charles?" her face contorted into concentrated anguish and then she froze, sitting in her little grave like a statue with two streams of tears clearing her ice coated cheeks.

"I erm, we thought you had gone off after Charles" I said and she made no reply, no movement except for her tears falling freely from her wide unblinking eyes. I took in a shaky breath and continued to free her of snow. "Angela lived?" I told her and she didn't care for this either.

"Edward is functioning again?" I tried and she only gulped, a sob escaping her before she resumed her stillness, tears never desisting. I sat down beside her and looked out to the shadows of trees barely visible to me through the thick screen of snow.

"You just woke up" I filled in her sentence. "You were running after Charles and you just woke up"

"I lost him" she said softly "They were after him and I lost him. I lost my son. I am insufficient at anything, useless at everything..!"  
"You saved Angela?" I told her. "Renesme... you saved Angela"

"But I couldn't save you!" she whispered violently "All I wanted to do was save you, save us... save Charles and Papa... save _everyone!_"  
"You can't save everyone" I told her but she made no reply, shaking her head and muttering intelligible admonishes to herself.

"Renesme?" I tried again "You can't save everyone. I don't know why you would think such a responsibility falls to you?"

"Because...!" she gulped and shook her head, pursing her lip-never looking at me "I condemned you all. I damned you with my very existence! Everything I have done since I was born, till the moment we arrived in this town has cursed you all! I cursed you Jacob!"

"You..." I was lost for words, watching her twitching fingers and hearing the soft whistling of the wind "But Renesme, I am alive. You saved me and Edward is alive too, so is Angela"  
"I didn't save _anything!_" she spat, her voice was uneven, she was on the verge of human hysteria or vampire stillness. She was undecided I thought but then it clarified itself when she said "You are dead, Jacob"

"Listen, Renesme... my heart still beats"  
"I am dead..." she ignored me and looked around her in wonder "I have died. I died" she said this without disbelief but instead, the same wonder that was shining in her eyes seeped into her tone.

"I am dead" she said finally, a smile on her purple lips. She was ghostly pale, her eyes lost of light and there wasn't that slight warmth to her skin I realised. She was frozen. She hadn't even managed to get out of the snow... or had she been stirred by my monologue...

"You aren't dead" I told her.

"I can't feel anything" she told me. I touched her hand tentatively, picking it up carefully and letting it fall on top of my turned up hand. Its coldness immediately aggravated my instincts, but I quelled the cringe working inside of me. I carefully moved the digits and wove our hands together.

"Can you feel that?" I asked her and she looked down at my hand thoughtfully before disarming me with her sin free gaze.

"Hot" she smiled timidly "But I have to be dead, obviously" she looked back at our hands and then back at me "I have to be dead Jacob, I felt your heart give out and Jane sent me to hell"

She looked around us once more, more inquisitive than ever before cocking her head thoughtfully in a similar manner like Edward.

"I just don't know what I am doing in heaven?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Heaven?"  
"It's white... beautiful" she murmured and then smiled fully at our hands, I had never seen that sort of smile on a person-a borrowed smile, an uncomfortable smile on her hard classical face "Heaven is beautiful... and you are holding my hand Jacob. Heaven is _perfect _and beautiful"  
_Heaven... _her voice resounded in my mind like a bell, the soft chime dancing through a large hall, the echo so beautiful and elegant.

"You are weak..." I said "And sick. You have to be sick... I have to... I have take you back to Edward. Yes, that is what I will do... he'll know what to do"  
"Charles...!" her anguish was back, she threw away her delirium about heaven and my hand so suddenly, slumping and sobbing hard beside me and opting for her hysteric pain.

"Renesme...!" I rose up swiftly, but there was no way I could put her through an hour of trekking back to the house in the steadily working up storm. I would have to phase. "Renesme, listen to me...!"  
"My child!" she wailed, shaking in the snow, her hair covered once more in a veil of white. Her eyes were wild, bruises under her eyes so dark and painful looking and skin almost lucent, veins easily visible. "Oh, dear Lord... don't let them hurt him! My baby...!"  
"I'm going to phase...!" I was trying to hold her, to shake her... make her look up at me, but she was as strong as a rag doll, letting me move her this way and that way with no conviction on her part.

"Renesme, look at me!" I commanded severely and she swallowed her sobbing in shock, her eyes so wide that the brown centre was being bullied by a thick ring of white "I am going to phase, you are going to hold on to me and we are going to go back to the house. Do you understand me?"  
"But Charles..." she pointed a shaking finger in the opposite direction from where the house was.

"Charles, as far as I could tell with Jane and how he handled that" I said "He can take care of himself to some degree. I am going to take you to your father, okay?"  
"Are you going to leave me?" she asked, trying to rise up and falling back in the snow. I lifted her to her feet, holding her up until I was sure she wouldn't fall back down.

"I am going to phase now" I told her.  
"Are you going to leave me, Jacob?" she asked again softly, frightened. "Like before...?"

"Before?"  
"When you died" she said "And I couldn't... go with you"  
"There will be another time for us to do a joint suicides, Renesme... okay" I said stiffly "Right now, can we just concentrate on staying conscious? Not falling off of me?"  
She nodded once and I sighed, half satisfied, taking my shirt off and handing it to her. I kicked off my shoes and gave her those too, but when I got to my pants, I had to physically turn her around. She was convinced I was about to bolt, run away and leave her holding my clothes in the storm.

I phased, awaiting any thoughts that weren't my own but none came. I nudged her back gently with my nose and she turned around clumsily, swaying and staggering to my side. I had to lie on the ground for her to get on, rising up slowly. There was no way I was going to be able to run with her so weak... so impossibly weak... holding on to my fur absently rather than with any hard knowledge that if she didn't tighten her grip, she would go flying off if I stumbled or moved abruptly.

"Were you going to find my Charles?" she asked.

I nodded my head once and she sighed in relief.

"I would like it if we go together, if that is okay with you Jacob Black" she slurred, a feverish warmth in her voice "I would _really_ like to kill Jane, slowly and intimately"

I nodded to that too, walking carefully through the storm. She snuggled lower to my back and I prayed I was offering some warmth, that her snivelling and shivering would at least die down soon.

"I hate my mother" she mumbled into my fur, half drunk.

I nodded to this too.

"You know, I have never had a cold or a fever" she said slightly annoyed "I think it's dreadful. I think it's dreadfully human and I don't think I should be having it"

I nodded and she sighed, leaning closer and a little more tightly before yawning.

"I am tired, Jacob" she whispered "I haven't slept in a year or so. I hope you don't mind, but I think I am going to catch a nap on your back. I know you don't like me very much... but you are very comfortable" she snorted once and rubbed her face in my fur "My nose is filled with... oh heavens, I think its mucus!"

I grumbled but my complaints fell to no one and my back fur became a good spot for rubbing her nose. She was out cold... snoring loudly besides her weak shivers, all the way to her father's shocked and elated arms. I had thought I had seen it all in Edward, but never had I seen him so happy in such a dire situation.

This was supposed to be easy and I was supposed to be selfish, and it was neither. But I couldn't care because for a change, it had nothing to do with Isabella.

This was my present, my current and it had everything to do with me. This was my first lifetime, and I could get it just right on my own terms.

I could be Jacob, not the old or the future.

Just Jacob.

Currently living, never dying.


	14. Crossing the Bridge

She was shivering under the worn quilt, her face pasty and skin fiery like coals. Her paleness was that of death, her lips were purple and her hair lay damp around her, stray strands sticking to her forehead.

"Charles..." Renesme moaned, nudging her head feebly back into the pillow. Her lips parted and a tiny breath escaped from between the chapped flesh after the plea for her son, her head turning to the side.

"She has never had a cold?" I asked Edward again in disbelief and he shook his head, placing a wet towel over his daughter's forehead. Jacob stood at the foot of the bed grimly, his dark eyes staring at Renesme with a thousand emotions swimming in them.

"She has never so much as coughed" Edward sighed "Well, unintentionally that is"

"But this shouldn't be a surprise..." I smiled, trying to get both men to rid themselves of their oppressive misery, she wasn't about to die... it was a cold, a little shiver and fever... everyone gets the hard ones at least three times in a lifetime "I mean, she was in the snow in nothing but that silly blouse"  
"She is a vampire" Edward said.

"She is half human" I told him sternly and he looked at me surprised, by the authority in my tone or the reminder that his daughter was half _weak_. Although the weakness here seemed to lie in her being a vampire...

"Her skin is still the same hardness" Jacob's first contribution to the situation, he had been silent and grave through out it all. "She is still... so... erm, beautiful... she hasn't just suddenly turned completely human"  
"The sickness is _inside_" Edward said, I wasn't sure if he was irritated by Jacob-his tone was always smooth and even, technical. "She could get run over by a car and be unharmed right now, but an hour longer out there and this could have turned worse. You don't understand the gratitude I feel Jacob, that you returned with her"  
"Where were you going, Jake?" I asked him "To Leah?"  
"Nowhere" he said softly, avoiding my gaze "Just away..."  
He had been leaving this, leaving us, leaving Charles... running from everything. It always seemed like he was on the verge of it, it always seemed like he was more on the rim of the circle... even more so than I was, the pathetic human.

"She needs to be warm" I sighed, looking around the room-a thick quilt and sheet was all that covered Renesme. The blankets on the other beds were stained with blood and medicine from Jacob and my self's injuries and Edward was being a prison warden about anyone leaving the house.

"It's not safe" Edward said suddenly, sounding miserable and apologetic. I forgot about the telepathy, I always forgot about that irritating telepathy...

"Erm..." I pushed my glasses up, every movement sent a dull ache through me, my leg felt heavy, the cast suffocating my foot and the one good arm had a numb twinge to it. "I will.." pretend you didn't hear my thoughts "Go clean the blankets"  
"Don't worry, Angela" Edward said quickly, suddenly appearing between the door frame and blocking my exit, his lavender eyes imploring me "I will do it. It will be done in a matter of seconds, don't worry about dinner either"

"Edward... I would prefer if you wait for me to say my thoughts" I said slowly and he smiled apologetically once more "I mean, not to be... erm, prejudiced against the... telepathically gifted, but my mind is the one place where I can be myself"  
"I know" he said and I cringed "Erm, I mean..." he paused thinking and continued with a small smile " I know that you are yourself... but I shouldn't know, you don't want me to... know..."  
"This I painful" Jacob grumbled.

"What, are you hungry?" I asked him.

"No, I am embarrassed on behalf of Edward" he muttered.

"Why?" I asked frowning but Edward appeared beside Jacob, very close-unfamiliarly close, I associated Jacob with regards to Renesme, Alice and Edward as always being given an odd allowance of personal space. Jacob immediately tensed, although it wasn't offensively close to my own judgment-while Edward seemed to be pushing his own limits with the proximity.

"Hey, I saved your daughter... you don't get to threaten me!" Jacob moved fluidly away from Edward and out the room before throwing a "He has a crush on you" behind him aimed at us.

"Don't worry about dinner" Edward repeated as though Jacob hadn't just said something juvenile and preposterous, or maybe he continued in such a manner because it was in fact juvenile and extremely preposterous "In fact... don't you worry about anything. Jacob is going to take a nap on the couch so you can watch the television freely without him guilting you..."  
"You are doing too much, Edward"  
"I have unlimited energy" he said "We have very little time. Renesme knows the direction Charles went in... And... I am not sure if I can trust Jacob to stay with you. He is erratic about his decisions"

"I can look after myself. In fact, I can look after myself and Renesme. Go with Jacob, I am sure he will be willing to go find Charles even with all his 'erratic-ness'"  
"You wont stand a chance against vampires" Edward shook his head.

"I think you are being unreasonable and overprotective" I said gently and he shook his head again.

"You were almost killed and worse!" his demeanour crumbled suddenly and he was drowning in anguish and I was trying not to follow him into those depths, trying to remain strong enough so I could pull this sentient creature out of such ancient agony without succumbing to it myself "Angela, you were about to die... right then, when you were worrying about Jacob, you were about to die... and do you know what I was doing?"  
"No" I whispered.

"I was entranced by my grandson's blood, too entranced to take notice of my daughter following after Charles or you or Jacob" he said "It was optional, for a second... to _bother_ caring"

"I don't know why you want to dwell on some irrelevant future, which died in the past" I shook my head and tutted "You saved us. That's what matters"  
"Jacob's heart gave out..." Edward whispered "And your heart was in its last few beats. I didn't save you, fate did"

"The point is we are saved"

"The point is... I have to always be alert" he said looking at Renesme. "The moment she wakes up, she is going to want her son. She believes he is the only person who has forgiven her, the only person who doesn't hate her"  
"I know" I told him "But you didn't see Charles"  
"But I did" he said and closed his eyes, opening them again, slowly "He is the reason you can look into my eyes, Angela. They should be crimson, by all accounts... because you see, I drank his blood. I gave him venom, what he calls concentrated venom right into his blood stream and from my mouth. In the current state he was in, she had no hope of catching him... if he didn't want to be caught. And Angela, he really didn't want to be caught!"

I remained silent, the memory of the Angel standing by Renesme and Jacob infused in my mind.

"And Leah?" I asked and Edward shrugged fluidly, again looking at Renesme. "And Alice?" no answer.

"I'll go and prepare a meal" Edward announced, plastering a smile on his face "You would watch her?"  
"No, I think I want to help you with the meal, at least" I said, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. He smiled a small smile, and led the way for only a second before disappearing ahead in a motion that was nothing but a gust of air.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The world had fused out; the sun had drowned over the edge of the horizon and risen as nothing but a red sphere over the darkness. This was hell; this was purgatory... my own mind, my own subconscious. I knew I was dreaming, I knew I was fast asleep and that the loneliness I felt in the dark desert with the red sun, over the black sky was only fictional.

I knew it... but it didn't stop me from gasping and running from the scene, covering miles upon miles and remaining on the same spot. The red sun, the blood moon-it was after me, it was going to catch me...

"Renesme?"  
"Mama!" I wanted to cry but my lips weighed a ton, and the movement they made to formulate the word was so feeble that all that came out of my mouth was a moan. But she must have heard me, her hand had slipped into mine and although I couldn't see her in the darkness... I could feel her.

I was safe.

"I am not your mother" she whispered, her voice rough as sand paper and deep. I was frowning slightly, my nightmare dissolving into little wisps of light, my nose filled with a dry sponge that was somehow leaking... and throat on fire and dry.

"Hng?"I opened my eyes and Isabella wasn't looking down at me lovingly, she wasn't telling me it was okay to be in the dark desert and that the blood moon would be my companion... and the feeling of warmth and safety wasn't coming from her either. Jacob Black was half staring and glaring at me, such a frown on his face that I almost missed the slight concern in his eyes. I attempted to snatch my hand from his hand but he held on to it for a second, before purposefully releasing it and placing it by my side. He leaned back and watched me, still giving me his reproving look.

"You are awake" he announced and I almost managed to snort derisively at his silly statement but then a fit of coughs attacked me, strange little pockets of _something_ that I feared to be phlegm hacking at the back of my throat. "Angela is talking to your Dad"

I frowned at 'Dad' and how infantile it made me feel, lying in bed with him watching me like some sort of snooty prefect. There were more important things to worry about...

"Charles needs tracking, not a half baked plan that consists of running through forests wild and crazed" he said, and I blanched (I was certain he was reading my thoughts). "There is also Angela to worry about..."

"Turn her!" I rasped, rolling my eyes "...and then there won't be anything to worry about! Or anything as drastically bad..."

I frowned at how dry and parched my voice was, the blood thirst itching my throat as well as another different thirst. Little wants and needs erupted in my body, half vampire and half... irritating.

"She isn't being turned... if I remember correctly, Alice said something along the lines of 'that wont be good for anyone'" he said in forced calmness "Besides, being a vampire sucks... I'd rather she were bitten by a rabid rabbit and turned into a playboy bunny"

"As interestingly..." I paused, frowning at him-he grinned impishly in return and I felt my dry lips twist and warp to keep from returning the grin... absurd as it was, to find him funny... and in present conditions more especially "For lack of a better word, disturbing... as interestingly disturbing as it is that such a thought could be formulated in your mind as current..."

"Cut me a break!" he chuckled "I am a hormonal teenage wolf. You're lucky there are actual thoughts formulating in my mind and not diagrams with labels that end with 'position'... at the present moment"

"Hmm" I closed my eyes and felt the twinge of sickness in my body. It wasn't pain, it wasn't numbness... it was all uncomfortable, hot and cold at the same time. And I wished I could remove my head, if only to be rid of the germs leaking from it.

I realised he had been sitting by my bed awkwardly, uncomfortable with being either so close to me or fearing my sickness.

""Are they not in the house?" I asked him and his brow furrowed "I can't hear them" I explained.

"Your sick" he smiled, enjoying my discomfort "It seems, your senses are dulled as a result" he turned to the door, obviously hearing them and sighed "Enjoy the chicken soup... your Dad sucks at cooking"

And with that he got up, leaving the room and the door open-I wouldn't be hearing anything regardless. The chicken soup was cold, tasteless and went down my throat wet and thin. The thirst was furious, the other lesser human hunger whining in me and my nose raw and prickling.

"I just want to get my boy" I moaned, pushing the bowl away and falling back on to the continental pillow, an odd queasy cloud falling over my mind and in seconds, I was back in my subconscious and this time... I wasn't tormented by bitter sweet love for Isabella, but memories of a small green eyed boy with a stammer and a heart of pure gold.

Xx~xx~xX

"Edward... go with Jacob, go and find Charles!" she insisted "I will take care of Renesme"_ have_

"No" Edward said, but she could see he was unsure-and the moment she thought this he looked at her sternly and said with more conviction "No, Angela"

"You want to... you need to, you have to!" she pleaded.

"You are unprotected" Edward said softly, imploring her with wide eyes to understand some fact, some dilemma he was having that she thought was irrelevant. "Renesme has never had a cold, this is something that needs attention...!"  
"You need to understand that she is half human!" Angela snapped, folding her arms over chest and staring Edward down, until he found he had to look away from her. "She is half weak, do you understand it if I say it like that then, hmm?"  
"I don't think you are weak"

"Then stop trying to be my body guard!" Angela growled "I have been poked and prodded by Isabella, bitten by a crazy vampire, and then bitten by another crazy vampire... who used me as some sort of telepathic piñata... You know Edward; I think I can actually handle my own!"

"What would you do if a vampire came to you, attacked you?!" Edward asked, a form of desperation leaking into his voice. "Angela, what would you do if a vampire attacked you?!" he asked again when she looked away from him, and when she ignored him he moved to her, too close and penetrating her detachment and he asked for the third time, by her ear "Would you fight him off of you?"  
She shivered, closing her eyes and trying to dispel the overwhelming tension every fibre of her body was consumed by, every thing about her alert to the fact that he was but a breath from her. She tried to inhale a steady breath, to calm her squeezing heart, but it only stuttered before jump starting into a sprint. He inched closer and she could smell him, a clean herb and lavender...

His eyes met hers the moment she braved a look, indigo desperate globes of ancient vehemence and secret emotions and she was instantly hypnotised, in a way she had never ever thought could be possible since she associated herself with the preternaturally gifted.

"What would you do Angela? Why... try it, that thought... Fight me off of you!" Edward commanded and she pressed her hand feebly against his chest and nudged half heartedly-her nerves and new anxiety frightening her more because she recognised it as only part fear and more... something else. Jacob Black opened the door then, and coughed out an amused "I'll come back later..." before attempting to reverse out.  
"Err, Jake!" Angela squeaked, ignoring the electricity that was coursing through her and squeezing through the small space Edward allowed and half running to Jacob "We were discuss... Err... we were, examining... something!"  
"Right" Jacob said dubiously, grinning at her knowingly "I wish I had more discussions like that in high school... I bet I would have been an 'A' student..."

"No!" Angela half shrieked, looking back at Edward, stupidly thinking he would still be standing as though she were trapped between him and the counter, and being shocked when he was leaning lazily against the kitchen counter instead-a bored look about him. "I mean... no" she tried for calmer but she was aware how bipolar she seemed.

"Oh... kay" Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"She thinks you and I should leave her with a sick, bed ridden Renesme and go off after Charles... with no knowledge of the future, of whether Bella will double back. Nothing. Edward said slowly, as though Angela were a deranged woman.

"Hmm" Jacob murmured, folding his hands over his chest and leaning on the opposite counter to Edward. "I think you should go, Edward. I can stay, I will stay and... We have to move from here. There is no question about that, but I think you should go... because the moment Renesme thinks she is strong enough... she will be going after Charles, whether you pull your controlling shit or not..."

Edward remained silent, looking at Angela intensely before sighing deeply "Yes, of course... The worst part about all of this is I cannot risk looking for Carlisle or anyone. It's dangerous... but if you move from this place, with the hopes that your ability to be human will allow you to hide yourselves a lot more thoroughly... then... yes, you would be safe"

"You hate it when I make sense, don't you?" Jacob asked.

"You know I do mutt, but what can I say" Edward sighed "It's in your nature to know how to lead, and as much as leaving is a distress on its own... I have to find him; I have to pray he hasn't been found either"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The night was an expanse of smoky navy, not a star glittering in it and instead many blinking and glowing lights filled the heights between sky and earth, tall cold buildings that were always awake. There was nothing to it; neither warmth nor humanity to the structures and he laughed morosely at that-things built by humans, could never be more alien than those sky scrapers. But it was almost perfection for him, perfection to his near deformed escape from Isabella and Jane.

A cold jungle that was incapable of clinging to his scent, littered with humans and pungent with cruel scents. He took a step out of the thin little woodland, looking over his shoulder warily. He was a sight, nothing about him was superhuman and he was aware how vaguely human he was in the moment; torn baggy shirt and oversized jeans hanging precariously on his emaciated body, his hair thin and long, wild around his face, skin pasty and sweaty and eyes sunken and dark.

Charles Black had never known a hunger, as the one he felt now. He was past being thirsty for venom, he was close to dying for it... but he had enough sense in him not to just allow Isabella and Jane to catch him-he was no match for both of them, and his only escape from such a confrontation would be death.

He didn't think he was ready for that at present.

He moved out of the thin trees, tripping and shuffling over the earth. To any human, to any other being-he was but a waif, some unfortunate vagabond mere seconds from death. In fifteen minutes, he reached the waters edge, the mass of water separating him from the concrete trees littering the city island. His toes touched the coolness and recoiled. He looked back over his shoulder once more, his heart shuddering in his chest. He moved into the water, the squelching of mud beneath his feet and the uncomfortable feeling of sharp objects nearly penetrating his now human skin. He braved it all until he was waist deep, and with one strong pull on his will, he concentrated on the single thought that he was going to hold his breath for as long as he could... he was going to ignore his stilling heartbeat (it was but another muscle in his body, that was immortal too), and whatever other symptoms that would arise... he would ignore them too.

He dived into the water, his eyes the only things that seemed to retain easy preternatural strength scanning through the darkness easily and when his lungs protested, he swam on, as his heart shuddered to a stop, he swam on.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Alaska was nothing but ice, snow and wind.

There were no vampires here, and something about that fact filled me with a sense of relief and dread. I had wanted to see Eleazar at least; I had prayed that Carlisle was hiding out here...

This meant, we were truly alone.

The Cullen house was unlocked, the keys to the three cars still in the kitchen by the drawer and the safe still hauled out in the main bedroom.

"Shit" Embry breathed, looking around the dusty space. "So, this is what it feels like... being haunted"

"Haunted by what, dude?" Seth demanded.

"Vampires" Embry whispered, sniffing the air. Their scents were long gone, but being a wolf meant we could pick up the underlying bleach on everything. It didn't hurt in its weakness but it was reminder of the previous owners.

"What do we do, Leah?" Billy asked softly. "Do we just... stay?"  
"For two weeks, keeping an eye on La Push, of course... you better call your folks, kid" I said, trying not to let the sense of emotional drainage seep into my voice "We can't stick around here, this isn't going to help us with anything"

We would have to travel out of here as men, in the cars... after our time was up and we had left La Push truly supernaturally free. I had an urge to head east, to head to Charles... such a desire and a want, that I almost called off our two week stay, but something in me told me that I wasn't strong enough just yet to go to him.

That was it, I had to be strong enough as well as make it safe.

For him.

For me.

For everyone.

**AUHTOR'S NOTE:**

**Whew, glad all that updating is over and I can just concentrate on moving forward. Thank you all for the reviews and patience! Ah, my poor heart is aching with love...!**

**Xx, hope the holidays are treating everyone well!**

**TJ**


	15. The Lost Ones

**THE LOST ONES**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

What darkness was ever known that could be compared to this? Had I seen myself at this point before? Had I known this was were it was all coming to, from the point I had opened my eyes to gaze into my mother's brown ones, to know my father's pain before I understood what the word meant...

To be born from two beings that were contradictions on their own; a mother constructed through life and death and a father who glimpsed the world of souls in each fissure he erupted through his body as he turned into a something made entirely of spiritual life force.

She was dead in my arms, pale and ashy and her blood swimming in me. I placed her gently besides the dumpster, closed her awe struck lightless eyes and stepped back to survey my evil. There she was, taking a nap in the dirt of the alley with her artificial black hair drizzled around her over worked face and a careful gash on the side of her neck. Two distinct punctured lay on either side of the wound, the deformed wolf in me always came out that way it seemed. I touched my mouth, of course the quarter phase had stopped and my teeth were only human in appearance, probably gleaming like pearls and harder than titanium.

I wasn't quenched because this wasn't what I had been thirsting for, but the girl... the young woman, she had been insistent. Trying to see what I had under my cloak, convinced I was some drunken derelict she could coax into thinking she would actually give her body too and then easily make off with whatever money she thought I may have. I couldn't fault her, I was the epitome of weakness currently.

The epitome of emotionless too.

I rocked back on my feet, stumbling backwards until I hit the wall of the building opposite to were she lay fast asleep forever. I slouched down, my stomach twisting and groaning and a nauseating queasiness filling me. That brief second when I felt a little better, a little fed-it escaped me completely and now it was all the more worse. I was not only hungry beyond description, I was now sick past my stomach and headache, my bones creaking inside of me and the little shudders of the bound wolf inside of me-that monster, that horrible monster-were working through my structure, berating me for ever thinking I could be as normal as any vampire.

The blood was poison, the girl... dead for nothing, but my caring lasted a second before I glowered at her angrily, clutching my stomach and shivering under the coat. She hadn't smelt appealing at all, she had smelt... human and salty, her scent was already forgotten under the initial rusty smell that I associated with _food._ What had killed her had not been the drinking, no...It had been the poison in my mouth, to concentrated for her to handle.

I tried to think on the next think to do, calling on the many segments I now found in my mind, calling for them to unite and form one thought. I remembered Edward telling me the way a vampire thought... well, having a vampire mind when you were not a vampire was down right retarded.

It took too much from me to pull in my mind and concentrate on not biting through everything and praying I would garner venom from it. Instincts and thoughts, intelligence and feelings... I hated them. To lose them, to be rid of them, that was survival at its core.

"Hey!"

I didn't turn to the sound, concentrating on the knives ripping through my intestines instead, the girl's blood acid and running through my veins, ruining every fibre and nerve. The man walked carefully into the shadows, his head tilted-a sign that he already thought I was dubious. He stopped a few feet from me and repeated "Hey?"

"Ngh" I could feel myself paling, my head swirling with a type of dizziness that made everything flip and turn and rotate.

"You don't look so..." he began and from the haze of illness, I saw his eyes wide and staring at my face. I flipped through my memory easily, comparing it to every self awareness that was vampiric-I had been slightly sloppy, as much as my haggard form was shocking to sane (and even then, sanity wasn't as prejudiced as insanity), the blood on my mouth would be a terror to this man.

"Good" he finished feebly. I gave him a closer look; he was groomed, he was carrying something in his hand, I closed my eyes momentarily and when I opened them every light was swallowed and I could see the black torch in his hand clearly. It was turned off, he hadn't wanted to scare me. I closed them again, before he met their iridescence and resumed my stomach cramps and shivering.

"Buddy" he said.

"I am not your buddy!" I rasped "Leave me alone..."

"Man, you are hurt" he said, shuffling a little closer, he was to engrossed with me to notice the odd shadowy lump laying by the base of the dumpster, or maybe his sight was that terrible. If he turned his torch on, he would see...

I wanted him to see.

"Let me have a look at you" he said in what I think he thought was calmness, but I picked up the little hitches easily. He reached me, stored his torch in his belt-oh, I may have evaded Jane and my grandmother, but I had found the police-and reached his hand to my chin. "You are way too young to be living like this buddy"

"How old do you think..."I began, a chuckle working in me but it got lost in a grimace when he tilted my head, and the teeth that refused to phase away with the wolf scraped the inside of my cheek. No blood came out, of course-preposterous that I would not only be a danger to my environment but a danger to my physical self too. And yet, wouldn't that make entire sense...

It did make sense.

"How old do I think you are?" he finished for me. His face was kind, his eyes were blue and he had freckles across his nose and a few scattered on his cheek. He was terrified, but he was also brave. The brave were always terrified.

I nodded. His hands roved the skin on my chin, he was searching for the wound that would explain the blood... maybe I could give him a wound, bite on my lip or something. I was too lazy to try, lets see were his little adventure would lead him.

"Maybe twenty three?" he asked "Same age as my brother... kid, you don't look like you should be living like this. You don't look like you should be in this part of town... are you on drugs?"  
"Yes" I answered truthfully to all his analysing and his question.

"What happened to you?" he stopped trying to be my doctor and looked at my face. I met his eyes, and they widened... the pupils contracting and releasing... he was, falling into the unknown.

"My father and mother... they should never have had me" I told him. "I know something that they don't"

"And what's that?"

"They created a monster" I sighed, leaning back.

"You aren't a monster" he shook his head and forced a smile.

"Really?" I asked him, my stomach was till in the same level of pain, but I was used to pain now.

"Yeah, really kid"

"Tell me then, if I am not a monster... then why is she laying dead over there" I cocked my head behind him and he turned slightly, before fumbling with his belt-the torch was out and in one swift click of his thumb it was on, and Pretty Woman was laying curled and comfortable in death.

"Shit!" he jumped back, torch flung across the grimy road and rolling a few feet, the light twirling over the side of the building. He harassed his belt once more, gun out and pointed in my general direction, he couldn't see that I had risen from the ground, leaning against the building.

"There is this rule..." I murmured and he picked up that my voice was being projected from somewhere other, his gun darting up and this time aimed roughly by my shoulder "The Volturi have... that... human's are not to know anything about us. Well, _them_... I don't fall into any categories you see"

"Shit..." he hissed again and in his fear, in his gazing at two flaming emerald eyes... he fired a shot, which whammed at my skin and lodged itself into my flesh. I hissed low, stumbling back and bracing myself on the side of the building once more.

"I wasn't going to kill you" I told him, my voice rough and raw, I could feel the blood oozing from the hole. "You know what, as much as I want to kill you..."  
"Shit...!" he cried and another shot went through the same arm, somewhere lower.

"Fuck!" I roared, pain shooting up my arm and mingling in with the still insistent stomach ache. I rushed to him in a blur-that single supernatural motion would cost me dearly later on-and held him, fought him into stillness and held the gun in the air. I couldn't remember a single one of my lessons in martial arts in that moment, but the gun went flying in the air and safely away from his trembling trigger ready fingers. "Hold still!"  
"You are trying to kill me!" he shrieked "What the fuck do you mean..."  
_Hold fucking still! _I roared into his mind and slackened, his eyes blinking. He wobbled backwards and then forward when I released him, but he didn't topple down. The comprehension was in his eyes that he was under some spell, the terror was in the sweat streaming down his skin from his hair line and the sweet adrenaline laced in his blood.

"Forget this happened!" I told him. I was sweating too, using telepathy and speed as well as the bullet wounds and the bad blood from the working girl (a little thought after the policeman had asked me if I was on drugs, made me wonder if her blood had been poison because she had been on drugs, but it was irrelevant. Humans were... no good).

He nodded, blinking confused and looked up at me... waiting for something.

"Oh, you can hurry along. I am okay, I will go to a..." hospital, I wondered. Hmm... Maybe to get the bullets out. "I will head to the hospital, I am okay. Thank you for your concern"  
"Sure kid" he was back to his previous slightly anxious self, still determined to be a perfect cop, a stupid hero. He touched his belt and frowned at me "What happened to my torch"  
"You dropped it over there" I said, pointing into the darkness before opting to just walk him over to the dead torch. "You should make sure that thing is charged before you head out into these parts of town man, you could find yourself in serious trouble"

"Yeah, thanks man" he laughed, picking it up and storing it away "Uhm, err... and my uhm, gun?"  
"I can't say I know, but you better find it" I said walking away, limping, bleeding and clutching my stomach "Like I said, have your tools ready before you step into this side of town"

"Thanks!" he called out "I didn't get your name...!"

"Batman" I called out, quickly mingling in with the rejects of this dark world, all of them containing something so poisonous in them that it could kill me if I tried to pry it from their bodies.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

It was easy to understand the living that the Cullen's had been conducting through all their centuries.

"I can help, Papa" Renesme whined before sniffling slightly and then grimacing, her little nose wiggling in the centre of her puffy face before she lost the battle and let out one abrupt unladylike sneeze that sent the flour up into the air.

"Great" I grumbled, covered in white from the lenses of my glasses( that had tape, super glue and all sorts of things to combat the numerous vampire related accidents) to my slippers, my entire front looking like I went rolling in cocaine.

"Let me..." Edward began and then he stopped, probably hit with the mental grumble and visual that if he even did what I thought he would do (whisk me in his arms, take my clothes off and wipe me down with a towel... like I too, was a whining Renesme doll), I would grind him into flour and make pancakes with him. "Right, Uh... Nessie, you really should be resting"

"I don't..." she was about to sneeze and I was glaring at her, quickly saving the remainder of the flour in my bowl by storing it in the cupboard. She was way too far by my _human _standards to be sneezing my flour into the air like she was tornado, but then again... Renesme was, the big bad wolf right now. Fluey, phlegmy and the dreaded result of always wanting to have a use, whiney.

"Jacob" Edward sighed and I heard Jacob groan from the lounge, stomping towards the kitchen. He peered inside, looked at me and his lips quirked.

"Someone made an Angela snowman" he grinned. "Edward?"

"No..." Edward said, looking deliberately at Renesme. Jacob, had taken it upon himself to find comic relief on the dire situation of Edward leaving to find Charles by irking both Edward and I about some imagined infatuation he was seeing between us-it was easy to guess that the 'no' was related to a thought from Jacob on the subject. "Nessie, maybe you and Jacob can scour the rooms for anything that may be of value, left by someone"

"We didn't come with anything" Renesme frowned.

"Just do it" I snapped and Renesme looked at me, something about her expression made me think she was fighting of an urge to stick her tongue out at me. "Now" I commanded and she pouted, charging ahead in a blur away from the kitchen and knocking Jacob over.

"Hey!" Jacob yelped and then glowered at Edward "If you don't spank her, I will" Jake snarled, swirling around and following Renesme upstairs.

"I am sorry..." Edward began, stopping again-reading my thoughts obviously. I ignored his pause, and busied myself with wiping my glasses free of flour.

"I don't think anyone wants breakfast" I sighed.

"Jake does" Edward smiled.

"Nah, he won't mind going to the diner" I sighed, placing my glasses back on my face. It was obvious they were crooked, but I was past caring. "I am going to take a shower, and take them into town to eat. Give you freedom to do your one man repair of the house?"  
"Hmm" he looked about the kitchen "I need cement"

"We could get you that too" I said. "Although I don't see the logic of repairing the house..."  
"WE can't leave any evidence that we were here. This house has to be sold, everything in it too" he said "There are vampires who can pick up on... vibes, if you may, that could lead them to you. A memory, a smell... humans are always letting out smells and emotions that would coat our presence in this house. But... for the house to sell fast, it needs to be desirable"

"I think you are delaying leaving"  
"I want to leave, really" he said "but I need to make sure you are safe"

A pause, my mind running over his sentence and then he looked away, staring at the missing island.

"Renesme and Jacob" he said softly "And you. No mistakes. Charles... and I... we have a mental link. He closed it, but... if he was terribly in trouble, I am confident he would call to me"

"Let's not let it get to that" I whispered and he looked at me again. A random thought on him wiping me down popped into my head and I coughed abruptly-curse my over developed imagination. He joined me in the imaginary coughing fits-his bass and my horrible squeaking rebounding in the kitchen.

"Yeah, erm... I am going to take my own clothes off" I blurted, paling before blushing "I mean, well... I can... that thought about before, that was totally... irrelevant and..."  
"I heard nothing" he lied.

"Sure" I might as well have been a banshee the way my voice pitched. "What I meant was..."

"You are taking a shower" he smiled. "Jacob and Renesme are already arguing"  
"Argh, those too" I sighed. "It's all that tension"

"Yes, that... tension" he agreed, still looking at me with those lavender warm eyes.

"Bye" I turned abruptly, knocking into the corner of the kitchen counter painfully, stumbling backwards and ignoring him before half falling out of the kitchen and tripping my way to the shower.

Sure enough, when I passed the first bedroom... Renesme was wheezing and snivelling for Jacob not to do the bed so carelessly while Jacob growled at her to stop micromanaging him, no one was going to sleep in the bed anyway and that she should 'get a damned tissue'.

Xx~xx~xX

"Remember when we first came here?" I asked Jacob and he smiled, never removing his lips from his straw, the milkshake depleting in a matter of seconds.

"Argh" Renesme groaned, her eyes rimmed with red and her aura... sickly.

"You look like you have the plague" I chuckled.

"You look like you have the hots for my dad" she slurred.

"You want another milkshake?" I asked Jacob, ignoring and he nodded, burping.

"Ew" Renesme gave him an admonishing look, that would have delivered her old 'robotic-Ness' if it wasn't for her wiping her nose with the back of her hand and wiggling her nose again, a sign that a super powered sneeze was on its way.

"You better not blow the roof off" I hissed, looking behind me-Mary, oh heavens... was seated with some other ancient gentleman, looking at us.

"Choo" Renesme deadpanned "See, no sneeze... just a threat of one..." she stopped, her eyes widening and then she sneezed, but Jacob's large hand went over her mouth suddenly and contained the nuclear sneeze. He removed it and looked at it in disgust.

"Vampire boogers" he groaned, before wiping his hand on the side of Renesme's head, on her hair. She didn't notice, oddly, sniffling and groaning before letting her head fall heavily on the table and muttering "I hate being half human"

"Tea helps" I said and she groaned in response. "With lemon..."  
"Lucy says you haven't been to work" Mary shouted across the empty table separating us.

"Morning Mary" I droned, not bothering to turn around and look at her.

"Carlie!" Mary greeted instead but Renesme made no move, her head still lying on her arm and hair falling over it.

"That's you, Bronze Boogers" Jacob nudged her rudely, but like Edward said... she was still a half vampire, and were I would have gone toppling over to the floor she moved slightly.

"I know it's me!" she wheezed from under her arm "I just don't give a _fuck_!"

"She has a cold!" I called to Mary.

"The auction" Jacob mouthed.

"Err, we are having an auction... at the farmhouse..." I began and Mary's featured puckered.

"_We?_" she said incredulously.

"I mean the C..." I was about to say, the Cullen's and Renesme raised her head and gave me an indicative look. Hadn't she given me a crash course in managing my life as a human according to its position in the vampire world. "Err... I mean, the Smith's"

I had wanted to say Joneses.

"I am helping them" I added, and only because Mary refused to just believe my lazy lie, I pointed at Jacob rather violently "Kids... giving poor... Carlisle trouble. Just won't get along... rebellious age"  
"Oh yes, boys of that..." she looked at the back of Jacob's head distastefully, while Jacob grinned at me and I prayed he wouldn't be his normal wisecrack self. He kept his jaws shut behind the grin thankfully "Nature" that was Mary's best description for her slight apprehension to the close to seven foot burly Quileute wolf "Always rebelling when good folk like Mr Smith take them in"

"Sounds exactly like me" Jacob chuckled, moving his two empty glasses to the side, so the waitress could place his stack of pancakes in front of him. "Rebel without a cause"

"I want to go with him" Nessie raised her head suddenly, eyelids half drooping.

"You aren't going with him, Renesme" I said firmly and she scowled at me.

"Whose going to stop me, you?" she sneered.

"Me" Jacob said with the same cheeriness, but somehow it made it all the more threatening. Renesme sat up, folded her arms over her chest and looked away momentarily to glower at the outside world past the window (it was safer than glowering at Jacob) before flinging her hand across to Jacob's plate of pancakes and wiping her hand in them.

"You didn't..." Jacob said, staring at his pancakes like they had been murdered before looking at Renesme in disbelief. "You touched... my... food... with your... grimy germy knits!"

"Bite me" Renesme pouted and before I could do anything about it-like I was going to stand in the way of a Renesme and Jacob show down (I was more likely going to excuse myself from the diner and let them wreak havoc, and hopefully Mary would be a casualty)-Renesme reached over to Jacob's flu coated pancakes and took one, pushing it into her mouth and making a show of enjoying it.

I held my breath, waiting for hell to break loose before me. How would I explain it to Edward... oh, he was a telepath... that would probably make it easier-just relay the memory of a giant wolf battling his sickly daughter in a diner over pancakes.

But then, Renesme's face twisted into revulsion and she spat bits of pancake out-into Jacob's plate of food before she began chocking...

"Jake!" I hissed but Jacob was too busy laughing his head off. I recalled Edward's unease when Renesme and Jacob had said they could look after me... look after me? I was doing all the looking after!

"Argh!" I squeezed out of the booth, clambered over a shaking merrily laughing Jacob and patted Renesme's back. Nothing happened, and I began punching her back... this only irritated her, and between her chocking. She afforded a glare at me, and then she scooped me easily up with one arm and placed me beside her, so she was choking between an amused Jacob and a bemused me.

Mary, wasn't seated on by her table any longer and the perpetually empty diner was oblivious to the odd sight.

"Here..." Jacob chortled, pulling Renesme up. She had stopped breathing, her eyes wide and blinking and face pale-but she was obviously _not _dead. He whammed the back of her back hard once and a chunk of unchewed pancake flew across the space to disappear into the distance. "Karma... an even bigger bitch than you?"  
"Shut up" Renesme wheezed, pulling away from Jacob to squash me in the corner. "Stupid mutt"

"Well at least I know how to chew my food!" Jacob laughed. "You must have missed that lesson while you were learning about the Doppler Effect"

"Enough" I sighed, pushing against Renesme. "Nessie?"

"And you!" she turned to glare at me "What were you trying to do, break your hand...?"  
"I was trying to save you"  
"I am immortal!"

"You have a cold, oh immortal one..." I said dryly "I think not even you know exactly what could bring you back to the land of the pathetically mortal and dying. Could you move... or I will tell Edward about this"  
"And what will he do?" Renesme challenged.  
"Oh, I don't know..." I said "Lecture you to death?"  
"Move mutt" she ordered and Jacob remained seated. "Please"

Xx~xx~xX

The house was... fixed. What would have taken most men a week was accomplished in a matter of hours, except for the brickwork that Edward agreed would need to be done at human pace. The cement was stocked up, and the only thing left was the yard work... that Jacob was merrily doing, enjoying Renesme's constant sneezing that evacuated the sand and dust from the front. As much as they irked each other to an almost warring state, they were incapable of not orbiting around each other.

It wasn't romantic, that much I understood-it was a sort of bond formed over the events that led to Jacob's brush with death and Renesme finding herself buried in snow. It was a stretch, but I wondered if they were looking for Charles in each other, finding him and using that bit of him that they both contained to heal the other.

"I never thought about it like that" Edward said. I contemplated berating him for the mental intrusion, but it was his nature. I could sooner stop being the 'human' one, before he stopped being the 'telepathic' one. "I am leaving now..." he said "I think you are more than capable of handling things now, from the auction to tying up loose ends in the town, to the move. Renesme will help, just ask her and... Ignore the... pomposity"

"I always do" I said.

"He is in a city" Edward said softly, something in his eyes seemed scared in an almost child like manner. I couldn't afford to wonder on it, it would cause me to lose hope in everything. "It's like being asleep, I would imagine... doing a chore, engrossed in some activity and then a single soft murmur without a voice, no words... a mixture of an image and emotions, ghosts over my mental sights. His thoughts leaking into mine, a dribble only"

"I don't know if he is..." he let the sentence fall into the air and sighed "Well, I have to leave Angela. Jacob and Renesme will fall into their roles... trust in Jacob, he may be young... but its in his blood to be a leader and protector"  
He walked deliberately towards me, hesitating and smiling timidly before bowing a little to meet my height and winding a cold arm around my waist, before briefly holding me to him. "Please, be safe..." he whispered into my ear "I have never known someone to be so strong... and so impossibly fragile, as you"

"..." there wasn't a coherent thought in my mind and my mouth hung open. He kissed my forehead, released me and I drunkenly stepped back. With one last ancient look of sadness and a treasured secret passion, he disappeared from my sights.

The sound of Jacob groaning and moaning for Renesme to catch Ebola next time she took a nap in a snow storm and Renesme attempting to boss him about something, reverberated in my ears after a second... and I thought, for a moment, I thought so hard and wished I could push the thought to her.

Thank you Isabella, for failing to see the many gifts you had before you... for I don't think I have ever known contentment as the one I know now, in treasuring them.

Xx~xx~xX

**Authors note:**

**Okay, it feels like I am writing three stories in one with this. Angela, Charles and Leah. Yep, from here on that's how it probably would be segmented... **

**Angela-Renesme-Jacob, Charles and obviously all who come into his path and Leah and the Quileute wolves on their adventures.**

**Responses:**

**Where are the other Cullen's? They went to South America, didn't they and then...? Well, don't worry I haven't forgotten about them. I know you miss them... **

**THE CULLEN'S BEGIN**

**Next chapter is about three quarters complete, a little introduction to the type of person Olivia is going to be. That's me trying to figure out her disposition as a character, not so easy... I think it is irrelevant for her to walk in the same path as Charles did genetically. Her environment in the story is entirely different to Charles. Everyone keeps wondering if she imprinted on Edward...? Once again, the environment in The Cullen's Begin is different to TSTKF, and the imprint is not the major issue... family ties are. (That's me letting you re-read The Cullen's Arrive-the chapter in which Edward meets Olivia for the first time and come to your own conclusion on that, did she or didn't she?) Sorry to be cruel **

**See you, wherever...!**

**Thank you for the support!**

**Xx**

**TJ**


	16. Toy Soldiers

**TOY SOLDIERS**

She touched the walls tentatively, pressing her palms flat on the warm surface and applying pressure. She felt the groan tremble through the brickwork and behind it, she could feel the resistance of something specifically created to hold in a vampire. She could chip the wall away, if she was bored... until she got to the intricate metal and electric shockers that were the real barriers between Alice Cullen and her freedom.

She moved back, swinging her hands to release the energy she had, anticipation-and surveyed her room once more. 'Guest Room', Aro had told her. Just a little stay, he had begged of her-little theatrics he loved to do, when he really was as cruel as his red eyes shone. A true devil, with a sweet tongue-a snake with cold skin. Maybe she should panic, she thought but the moment the thought fleeted over her mind a warm tingling erupted inside her and she stilled her impatience-her vision had come.

Jasper, as she had well known by now, was not in the Volturi main palace. In fact, she was certain by the lack of solidity in the vision... Jasper was no where near a 'Vampire Exclusive' Volterra. What she saw instead, was Carlisle...

"Carlisle" she breathed. He was standing alone, in a haze of greys and winds-his hands chained behind him and hair wild and flaming in white gold.

"Alice, dear..." it was Aro behind the large thick oak door. He knocked softly and called her name once more, she quickly arranged her expression to something detached-not that it would matter, if he chose to touch her.

"You may come in" she called politely, positioning herself on the bed, lounging lazily on its silk pillows and hand made quilt.

"Alice!" he chirped, closing the door behind him "I see you are comfortable"

"Well, yes..." she smiled ruefully "It is like you promised"  
"Yes, indeed" Aro stood by the foot of her bed, watching her closely. "How are the headaches?"  
"Desisting" she said "It helps, now that I am..."  
"Surrounded by your own kind?" Aro offered innocently and Alice's expression faltered, her lips quirking down and eyes darkening. "I would have you reconsider your little... fasting"  
"I don't want any human blood" she said.

"Imagine how that could affect your sight?" Aro sat carefully on the bed "It may not only heal you but fuel your gift..."  
"I can't see anything that isn't human or vampire, Aro..." she sighed "Please understand, I am of no use. There is no point in my being here. You saw from my mind how utterly infested the world is with beings that aren't vampiric but immortal regardless, waking up and walking in this century..."  
"That boy of Isabella's!" Aro spat, all pleasantries lost and his face twisting into something darkly beautiful, exquisitely violent and evil. Alice shuddered, reminded of Aro's other gift of putting vampire's at ease with his familiarity before chasing them into paranoia and horror with his effortless terrorizing. "Do you know, dear Alice..." he was back to his sweetness "Isabella kept him from me"

"He isn't her boy" Alice whispered.

"Oh, he is Renesme's boy..." Aro twirled his hand, it was irrelevant to him this little fact "Well, I asked her to invite you all to me... and I see only you bothered to be polite and come to my little meeting"  
"Meeting?"

"I know about Joham, and I know there is _another _vampire in South America that seeks to oppose Volterra..." Aro paused, his face back to terrorizing demon. He looked at Alice, scowled and said "Well, I also know that there is a traitor in my guard"

"I cannot help you with that" Alice whispered "I see the future not the past"  
"Then tell me, what the future is, sweet ballerina?"

She looked away from him, and concentrated on all things to do with Volterra... but like the world was now coming alive with beings that were no longer afraid to remain anonymous in their immortality-the future of Volterra hung between blurs and little snippets.

"I see... nothing" she said "I can't see anything"  
"Then you are irrelevant" Aro said gently, apologetically "You see, Isabella... I know she likes her... privacy, and I give it to her willingly because of the information she gives me. For instance, she believes that Jasper is the most valuable member of the Cullen family... and Carlisle"

"Why!" Alice hissed.

"Well, Jasper's gift withstands the mental capacities of both vampire and human-and these other lesser creatures..." Aro paused to grimace in disgust before continuing his flow unperturbed "...and after the little problem I had with Isabella a few decades ago... I need vampires like that. And as you have pointed out, the world is no longer only that of vampires... and Carlisle... oh, I know he has been prodding and dissecting that _boy _of Renesme's and including those _dogs..._ well, he has sound knowledge of creatures outside of human and vampiric"

"Oh" Alice managed, looking away from Aro.

"I do want the boy" Aro said. "I do want Renesme and the mutt. I do want them, Alice but you see... Isabella... she is conflicted. So I tried a different angle, the boy or her daughter"

"Alice" he called her name impatiently when she made no response "I would rather keep you here as useless as you are, than for you to go somewhere and rediscover your uses for another. Am I not like God? So selfish with my love..."  
"Almost..." she whispered.

"I have eternity to perfect it" he finished, leaving her in her fear.

Xx~xx~xX

"Get out" Alice said softly, before the door was yet to be opened, before the ghosting feet had reached the entrance... before Isabella could touch the handle of her door. Of course, Isabella ignored the request-only faltering in her quick step as a sign of discomfort to Alice's resentment.

The door opened, and the once sisters were alone in the grand guest room with nothing but eternal memories to spread about them.

"Alice" Isabella greeted coolly.

"You told me he was here" she whispered.

"How else could I ensure you would come without having to hurt you, dear sister?"  
"You are no sister to me!" Alice hissed, spinning on her heels to face Isabella's pale beautiful face and leave the scene feet below from her towering prison, of the human world and its sunlight and warmth.

"Right, I see" Isabella murmured, folding her arms and looking away from Alice "I suppose there is no point in me telling you it was all 'Business'?"

"There is no point in your existence save for Renesme and Charles!" Alice spat.

"Renesme..." Isabella murmured thoughtfully, looking at the marble floor with cold red eyes. Her features tensed and her mouth pulled down the slightest bit "I was surprised... to find her... with you"

"Right" Alice looked away from her, wishing she could harm Isabella... wishing she had one match that she could strike and throw at her traitorous face.

"And by Edward's form in that pathetic attic..." Isabella's eyes flicked up to Alice's face, narrowed and swimming with odd secrets and emotions that failed to twitch a single muscle on her face, but remained drowned in her blood eyes. "I could tell that Renesme did not return to America on her own accord"  
"And from that fact in which you knew this, that Edward's form was the connection to South America..."

"Don't you even dare speak of your insipid spiteful theories!" Isabella hissed, looking back at the door suddenly. She took a step forward towards Alice and whispered, her words travelling in the air between them so gently that the art in itself was only skilled by vampires as the ultimate whisper and confidentiality "Don't you dare speak of things... that have nothing to do with Volterra, sister"

"I told you I am not your _sister_" Alice said in the same volume she had been using, not caring for Isabella's secrets past the fact that she prayed they had the ability to burn Isabella from the inside out if they were ever released. "And you know how I love daring games"

"Alice..." Isabella warned, her eyes narrowed. "Sister, I understand Aro has given you the courtesy of keeping your memories, and maybe it would mean that some topics are achievable...? But it doesn't stop them from being dangerous to both of us"

"You say South America has nothing to do with Volterra?" Alice whispered, the same breath voice used by Isabella this time, a whisper of discretion.

"Yes" Isabella responded, a singular emotion spreading over her face-apprehension. She wanted the topic to be dropped, regretting mentioning it in Volterra of all places.

"Liar" Alice grinned, grabbing Isabella's shocked hand and squeezing tightly, painfully-she had, in fact, been a vampire longer and her strength was that of experience... "If I could but tell you a thought, I would squeeze your hand... and if I were to do such a thing of touch, I would be the _one_ being connecting South America to Volterra and your reason for holidaying between the two, and pleasing both?"

"I don't know what you are talking about" Isabella gasped, understanding the riddle regardless.

"A mother before you were a turned, a monster after and now you are some ambiguity of both Isabella" Alice sighed, never releasing Isabella's hand and staring into the hard face, the terrified ruby eyes. "And that is what makes you so dangerous, monstrous mother"

"You don't know how difficult it is..."

"To what?" Alice took a step forward, air barely able to move between her and Isabella, their words lost to all potential eavesdroppers "How difficult it is to try and negotiate both Volterra and South America against each other in order to keep Renesme safe from both?"  
"I made a mess" Isabella whispered, her form shaking-her resilient grasp on her vampirism shaken by the confession "I did... things... but heavens, I will fix it. She was to stay there, with Nahuel... hidden-she may have been miserable, but she would have been safe and alive after this century was over"  
"Volterra" Alice murmured, releasing Isabella's hand, her eyed glassing over "Will no longer be the apex of our world?"

"The _very_ world..." Isabella murmured "Will no longer be and believe me... when the reordering happens, when hierarchy is formed through the ashes or a new order stands in place of Italy-Renesme will understand my sacrifices and sin. You too, Alice... will be eager to forgive and forget. Excuse me, my stay in Volterra is a short one... I have business in America-a certain grandson of mine, will ensure Aro is none-the-wise about my... duplicity. I am sure Charles will keep him preoccupied for _centuries_"

And with that, Alice Cullen was left alone-dreading the return of her vision, fearing that all she would see...would be black, tar, ink and desolate.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"Hmm, this house always seemed so... dismal" Mary whispered to Florence, before glancing up at Carlie and waving at the beautiful girl standing bored by the entrance, Mary watching as Carlie nodded her head rudely in greeting to each passing viewer.

"Edward..."Florence began, her insides twisting with the mutter of the name. She swallowed the unwanted sensation away and tried again, corrected herself and organised her thoughts "You see, the Smith's... they put in a bit of work in this. Carlisle got a job in... Africa, you know... United Nations and what not"  
"Oh, those poor hungry children" Lucy agreed. "And his wife...?"  
"Well, she is teaching children in... Iraq... how to..." don't say dismantle a bomb, Angela... politically incorrect and just downright rude, she chided herself, but that was just how her mind worked-inappropriately in times of great stress. "Err... how to... cook"  
"Yes, of course" Hannah agreed "Cooking is important"

"Are you sure that boy..." Mary would not let up on Jacob, constantly checking where he was in the house with regards to her own position and the placing of valuables.

"Jacob is a great kid" Florence said impatiently, failing to _not _roll her eyes. The house was filled with people from the town, eager to view a new piece of property-or an old one-and generally, to find out more about their elusive suddenly departing 'Smith' residents. It was certain they would have a buyer, not many families and properties found themselves moving or uninhabited in the town.

"That boy is not a kid!" Hannah snorted, spotting Jacob standing opposite a steadily unagreeable Carlie and grinning impishly at the un-amused bronze beauty "That is a man, a fine specimen of one..."  
"And all men are boys?" Florence offered, thinking of a certain ethereal boy who was, in fact, a man.

"Very true, Florence!" Hannah laughed, slapping Florence on the arm hard and sending her lurching into a book display painfully, her still tender arm throbbing viciously.

"Those two don't get along?" Lucy asked.

"What makes you say that?" Florence asked and both Lucy and Mary cocked their heads to the entrance door, where Carlie and Jacob were pushing and shoving each other-Jacob slapping a frustrated Carlie's arm boorishly and insistently while Carlie repeatedly launched a deliberate dainty kick at Jacob's shin.

"Hey!" Florence bellowed. "You two...!"

"Huh?" they stopped, Jacob's shin a distinct red and worrying purple with shoe-tip shaped swells ridging it while Carlie looked murderous and unharmed, only very drained really despite what had been numerous subtle but vicious punches from Jacob.

"Cut the crap out, and get into the living room and serve the damned entreaties!" Florence snapped, feeling frazzled and over worked and more ready to get on the road to god-knows-where than ever. She ignored Mary, Lucy and Hannah's bewildered disbelieving gazes on her face and resolved to glare at Jacob and Carlie until they moved.

"And you, aren't you supposed to be some sort of factory made Bedford Wife... could you be of some help and not be so damned distracted?" Florence asked Carlie the moment she passed her. Carlie stopped, glaring at Jacob as he limped ahead of her and hissed at Florence "That dog needs training... that is all I can offer and if you don't do it... I am going to have to put him _down_!"

"I wouldn't go down on you for all the gold in the world!" Jacob roared from the living room (filled with true ancient beings, and reticent ones at that) and both Florence and Carlie blanched.

Xx~xx~xX

The house was sold, the little kitchenette done away with and the last remaining oddities of the little town sat silently and pensively in a car, heading to a place far and distant with nothing but hope to fuel their journey.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Matthew Delong had lived in the little town of Malwood his entire life. It wasn't the worst town-it may in fact, be one of the most prestigious little towns with its wealth, but to Matthew it symbolized how his life meant close to nothing. He sat alone in the kitchen, the stove was turned on and the heat from it idled into the icy air. He was shivering under the pathetic grey blanket, cold and sweating-terrified and angry.

Malwood, as small as it was, had the audacity to be an over worked elitist village. It had its founding families, it had its grandeur social events and exclusive kitchenettes… it even had its royal hallowed secrets, and as Matthew shivered, fevered and spat out blood-he thought about all of those pompous people his poor mother had worked for, all those 'exclusive prim and proper' families, and he grew angrier than he had in all his years as an impoverished bastard son.

He recalled sitting quietly under a table, as his mother cleaned some silverware or other, while the snooty children ran up and down the large corridors-Matthew had begun to understand his position in the life and world of Malwood from then.

"ARGH!" he groaned, his stomach clenching and twisting so painfully and physically that when he timidly opened the worn blanket he was draping his naked body with, and looked down at his emaciated pasty torso, he saw purple blotches blooming on the edges of his rib cage, spreading over his abdomen. He quickly covered himself up, gulping down spit and blood and rocking himself on the wooden stool, glancing at the stove and contemplating pressing his face on the plate if only to heat his numb face.

The shudders increased and his veins filled with cold tar, he was frozen… he was dying, about to join his poor overworked mother. He had been sick for too long now, it usually only lasted a week every month… but this time, it had been two months since the death of his mother, and she wasn't there to wrap him up nice and warm… nor was her pension there to afford him medicine and a decent meal. Half the furniture was sold, the house was breaking apart from the inside out and Matthew…

Matthew was convinced he was dying.

This was death and this was hell, this was castigation for all his sins. Pain, hunger and fear and anger… rolled into his body easily ripping him from his core, working through lungs and tissue until he was nothing but a pile of dried resentful meat. How dare he ever think to be more than what he was, to fall in love with a girl from one of the elite families. How dare he betray his mother like that, betray his previous hatred for all things formal and sparkling… for _their_ life. He should have never confessed his condition to her... and it seems, the confession made his sickness worse... or was it the death of his mother and loss of a lover?

He was alone in the little rickety house, pushed into the thickest parts of _their_ forest-yes, the girl he loved and her prejudiced family whom his mother worked for as a servant and whom he envied as a family. They had lived there all their lives, and it seemed… they would die there…

It was the darkest night still, the thickness of it so overwhelming and regal that he was unsure if he spotted clouds in the sky or descending nightmares. The window was closed, the little kitchen refusing to provide some comfort in his vicious coldness and he sat alone on his single stool-somewhere were the table once stood, right by the stove-rocking back and forth and feeling things inside of him move.

He was whimpering, pathetic sounds, crying out to his mother and his love that had rejected him. The little town of Malwood, with its lovely trees and farms, little close knit prestigious circles and secrets that kill…

"Matthew?" a soft knock on his door momentarily distracted him from his pain. He gulped down his sobs and whimpering, staring at the splintering rotten wooden door in fright.

"Yes" he rasped, to low for the sound to carry past a few inches from him.

"It's Leah" she said, he was unsure if she had heard-he was unsure and unwilling for her to have heard now. Even in death, he was a vain creature-some vanities were more intense when natured by insecurities. "I'm coming in" she told him and the door nudged. He remained silent, resolving not to bother moving at all-she would just have to go away, the door was locked and he wanted to die alone.

It nudged a second time and he heard her weary sigh, before it opened stiffly, the lock cracking and falling to the ground with a resounding chunky clatter and her worn boots stepped carefully inside.

"Matthew" Leah, he hadn't gotten her last name although she had been visiting the hospital for a week straight, asking him questions and offering comfort for his undiagnosed illness, bad mouthing the town's snooty residents with him and how unwelcoming they all were to her and her brothers. He had never told her about this house, his 'family home'. He had never told her his mother worked as a maid, he had never told her he had been in love with the employers daughter and finally convinced her he was worth something… he hadn't told her anything private and shameful. In fact, he remembered weaving out a grand story about wealth and title for the beautiful exotic slightly _dangerous _woman…

And by this fact, she shouldn't be standing in the middle of his kitchen, pretending not to see him and looking around the place as though she was interested in the non existent deco and cockroaches.

"Wow, this is nothing like the yacht you described" Leah breathed.

"Ngh…." He was angry, he wanted to say something vicious and harmful, but all he managed was a weak doleful watery gaze. She chuckled and kicked his puking bucket, the contents splaying all over the floor.

"I really hope you are sick with what I think you are sick with" she sighed and then cocked her head behind her, at the open door that was gleefully allowing all manner of cold breezes to enter his humble hated home and assault him. "My brothers think its Aids. I told them not to joke about such things, if there was one illness I was sure could harm our wolf genes…"

He blinked at her confused, wondering if his illness was catching… if she had contracted some stage of it that made the mind rot and go insane.

"That would be it" Leah sighed, hovering her hand over the hot plate. "I think it's something else…" she whispered, gazing into his eyes determinedly, an excitement bouncing in her dark umber eyes.

"Wha…wha…" he had to make the effort to speak, pushing past his trembling tortured muscles. "What?"

"That" Leah cocked her head towards the window this time, and Matthew frowned at it, frowned at the dark outside with the thick silhouette of trees. At first he saw what appeared to be numerous pairs of burning iridescent eyes, piercing through the trees and this made him yelp in fright. She groaned and walked over to him, forcing his head up once more to the skies. "Look closely… and tell me what you see Matthew"

"What?" he rasped, his jaw failing to lift in her burning touch. But then he saw it's unveiling as a thick concrete cloud drifted lazily from in front of it, and he shook with new found fear. Glaring at him, with hate and spite was a round perfect ivory eye that would never blink. He didn't notice her stepping back, he didn't notice how she jumped back out of the house or that the many pairs of glowing eyes he had seen outside had moved and growls and snarls where coming from were they drifted out of the trees…

Because in that moment, Matthew died and finally became a part of the prestigious secrecy of Malwood town…

Xx~xx~xX

"Shit!" Leah breathed, stumbling out quickly. Her skin had goose bumps, the kind that only ever came about when vampires-unknown vampires-were about. She was trembling, shimmering and shaking and behind her she could feel the movement of her wolf brothers. Their hot breath billowed through the cool air, heavy paws pacing the front of the sad little hut and bodies filling the small clearing before the woods.

Inside, Matthew groaned and moaned while the moon pierced the shadows, and hung high over the world.

She removed her clothes quickly, listening in on the creaking bones and whimpers of the man inside apprehensively, trying to still her frightened hands at what was to come, and tie her clothing to her leg securely. She flipped into the air elegantly, landing as the grey she-wolf and entered the chaotic excitement and fear of her brothers.

_Werewolf..._ was the underlying thought behind each wolf's mind, and the realisation that Leah's diligence and patience with the past two towns and mysteries and legends could very well pay off. They watched horrified as the man rose, naked skin pale and glistening, a variety of dark colours blotching his skin and eyes yellow... demented, pained and tortured.

_What do we do now?_ Embry asked nervously. He watched as Matthew twisted upward in pain, his spine pushing his skin frightfully until it was blooming with bruises from the pressure. This was nothing like his first phase, Embry thought. This was nothing like any phase...! This was raw, this distorted against nature itself... this was a _curse. _A true curse...

_He will transform..._ Leah said unemotionally. _None of the council members even suspect him to be a wolf although his biological father was one-but then again, we don't know who his father is or where his line comes from... they are still reeling from his involvement with that girl. So, I doubt there will be any interruptions in these parts of the woods... we shepherd him to our clearing, and when he transforms back, we carry him to our place and... I guess, talk to him and counsel him._

_Right._ Bradley said sceptically, pulling the image of a turned werewolf from Seth's mind. Seth shuddered, remaining cold and silent, but resolved to finish their plan to the end regardless of his own fears on the matter.

_We are supposed to 'shepherd' that?_ Billy asked, his tone parched and shaky.

_You... Billy, are not going to do anything but keep a look out around our escape route from this hut. Like I said, I am certain that tonight, there would be other wolves from other families..._Leah murmured. _We have to bully him to the edge of the forest, to our clearing...! Does everyone get that?!_

_Shit! _Embry breathed and inside, the man had fallen out of sight from the little window, and instead the little kitchen filled with the sound of crunching bones and yelps, the smell of blood in the air. They couldn't keep still, shifting and pacing the front and anticipating the beast... waiting for it, preparing for it...

Nails scraped the kitchen floor sickeningly, before the distinction in the sound turned into claws ripping cheap tiles up. A black arched back popped into view and the Quileute wolves held their breath. Coarse short fur sprouted from the hunched back's edges, the spine sickeningly formed with its easily distinct bones, the muscles rolling thin and taut under the slick tarry skin and a thin vaguely wolf like head rose up and turned to the window-that seemed more like a little box screen of a television showing a horror movie-hellish eyes piercing the outside and glared hatred at the nervous wolves outside.

_He is coming for us..._ Leah whispered and in a tone that left no room for doubts, and fuelled only conviction to their cause, the Beta-the current Alpha said. _Prepare yourselves; through the woods, to the clearing and we tag and bag this bad boy._

**ATHOURS NOTE:**

**Welcome, to They Sought to Fight Love... dun dun dun! **

**Reviews, questions, thoughts and suggestion and what you as the reader are 'foreseeing' are greatly welcomed!**

**Xx**

**TJ**

A little to look forward to, just because this backdrop of the story so far is pretty grim and morbid...

Jacob and Renesme go to high school.


	17. The Marvelous Eriksons of Malwood

**THE MARVELOUS ERIKSON'S OF MALWOOD**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

"What... where...?" he pried his eyes open, an odd sticky substance denying him the motion momentarily, his bruised eyelids quivering from the exertion before he managed a narrow slit, hot white light streaming into his vision, piercing his mind.

He was too tired (and lazy) to make sense of his environment in relation to his position on what could only be a hard timber floor. There was movement around him, he made out boots through his narrowed eyes-he recognised the boots, he had seen them the night he had died. He was being spoken to, words flowing and fizzy into his mind, little bubbles floating and popping-no sense could be made of them. Something about promises, acceptance and safety... they would keep him safe from himself; this he was half lucid enough to nod understanding to. He would leave with them and they would care for him as best as they knew... that was alright too, he was done with this life. He had, after all, died last night.

He was not dead now, and that was alright too.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"My name is Leah" the girl said, a demure smile playing on her lips enticing him, those large eyes of hers averted from his face in fear and reverence filled him with fire and how she put her hands in front of her with such delicate timidity...

He watched all of this from across the desk hungrily. From the moment she had walked into his home office, her unimaginative jean-t-shirt combo not managing to hide those curves that her impossibly lean and long body possessed. He craved her youth, the obvious naivety her bashfulness was conveying-Philip Erikson, had already decided to hire the young girl, in fact, before she had even managed to enjoy the cushy seat she was currently occupying awkwardly.

"My wife normally handles these... things" Philip drawled, smiling widely and his dark eyes filling with greed, sinking deeper into his imperial face. He was a good looking man, even at his age... and it was only in his eyes, that his true nature could ever be shown. "But she had a stroke..."

"Oh, I am so very sorry!" Leah said quickly, her eagerness and wide eyes prickling his greed further.

"About what?" Philip asked dumbly, dazed by the fantasies swirling in his underfed mind.

"Your wife... the stroke...?" Leah asked slowly.

"Oh, yeah" Philip frowned "What a _sad_ event it was" he said dismissively.

"Was she under a lot of stress?" Leah insisted, eyes wide and innocent on the man's face.

"Our daughter was sleeping with the help" he said in the same blasé manner, before pausing, deciding that he could add a little more concern to his families current state "Well, the helps _son_ in any case... but it is all the same. Servitude is a thing inherited"

"It is, isn't it" Leah agreed, leaning back into her chair.

"You know what, I have a meeting..."Philip rose from his seat slowly, all naughty agenda's doused by the reminder of his marriage, bed ridden wife and miserable daughter. "Annabelle will walk you through your duties"

"Annabelle?" Leah asked.

"My daughter..." Philip sighed wearily, shaking his head "Probably off somewhere stuffing bread into ducks. Tragic situation... her, not the ducks"

Xx~xx~xX

Annabelle Erikson was a stiff, emotionally unresponsive young woman by breeding. Her back was barely arched in any direction, held instead in a rigidness that was fitting with her cold grey eyes; her hair was rid of any curl and tied instead into a painful bun high on her head so those pale eyes seemed to stare out wider and sadder onto the desolate world she lived in.

The first thought that Leah had on the cold creature moving silently through the mansion and instructing her on day to day chores, was of a certain bronze haired beauty that had grown into such a similar disposition by the time she was a young woman. A well trained doll, in a perfect doll house, with everything she could ever want for save for happiness from true love...

"This room..." Annabelle said in her monotonous tone, stopping suddenly so Leah with all her dexterity and preternatural alertness, found herself stumbling side ways to stop from crashing with Annabelle's much smaller and frailer frame. "You should never go in there, save to clean. Do not disturb my mother..."

"Of course" Leah breathed and they proceeded two steps away from the shut door before Annabelle stopped suddenly again, and again, Leah found she had to skip away to stop her acceleration from knocking the pretty little woman over.

"My father is going to hit on you, he is going to say wonderful things about your beauty and such... you will not be mistaken when he makes a move on you" Annabelle droned casually "When he does, I request you not coerce his advances further from their inquisitiveness; there is nothing in it except empty hope that he would ever leave my mother for... the help"

"Of course" Leah said again, this time Annabelle looked back at her, giving her a look that suggested she didn't think Leah had enough good character to not 'coerce' any 'advances', and leave them in an infancy. They continued, Annabelle pointing uninterestedly at a tall dark wood door and murmuring something that translated to it being a 'family relations' room.

"Do you mean your brother?" Leah asked and Annabelle sighed wearily, dropping her hand in such exaggerated exhaustion.

"I _suppose_ I mean that..." Annabelle breathed disinterested "Where he is of current... I suppose he has gone for his regular check ups at the hospital. It's all very fragile business, this illness that attacks him so often since we were children..."  
"As often as monthly?" Leah asked.

"Almost like a period!" Annabelle half shrieked insanely, worrying Leah into taking a step back "And I tell you Leah, this _'Man of the house, Future Heir'_, with all his masculine strength... he may as well be an over worked eunuch"

Xx~xx~xX

Leah began her work the next day, a job that one of the other maids on the property had told her would be stressful, strenuous and a constant battle to keep ones bottom from landing in Mr Erikson's palm. It was, of course, not a strenuous job for a being that was formed from energy and life force... and the latter problem of Mr Erikson's clumsy hands was handled with care and it was in this, that Leah found herself exhausted-playing the bashful little girl when she was crueller than any fox, a coyote... a she-wolf.

The house was mostly empty, the rooms filled with luscious furniture, paintings and antiquities and its residents hidden either behind their bedroom doors, or on the grand estate with its ponds and trees. In her third day, Leah found nothing of value to her cause, save for reassurance that the Malwood secret was indeed a secret that travelled through families.

The grand paintings in one hallway showed various males with the same regal handsomeness that the womanizing Mr Erikson possessed, but all of them were of a more youthful age with eyes that seemed tired and pained, faces gaunt and thin and hair a long mass of unkept darkness framing pale faces.

"Breathtaking, isn't it?" the woman breathed. Leah had heard her shuffling closer, through the room-but for the sake of appearances, she had remained staring at the last painting of a gorgeous man, whom unlike the others had his eyes half closed so the colour and sorrow was partially hidden and left bare in only his slack grimace.

The woman stood beside Leah and stared up at the portrait, her thin hand shaking and trembling, pulling her gown tighter to her frail frame. "That is my son... Dominic" she said. "The most striking and tortured of the Erikson men, I am told. Never before, have I come across such a brooding young man... adamant to deny his youth for pleasure of ancient sorrows!"

"I think I know a few of those" Leah murmured.

"You are... the new girl?" Mrs Erikson asked.

"Mhmm" Leah murmured, frustrating her cleaning cloth in her hands.

"I just bet Philip picked you out" Mrs Erikson sighed, no resentment in her tone surprisingly, but a soft humour "That husband of mine... I swear, I should have him neutered!"  
"I have kept well away from him, Mrs Erikson" Leah said and the thin illing woman smiled at her, shuffling to her left before stumbling into an awkward slow gait out of the hall.

"Oh, he likes it when they do that!" Mrs Erikson laughed "Playing hard to get"

Xx~xx~xX

Mrs Erikson was not a woman of secrets, Leah could tell this much. Not that she was incapable of _keeping_ secrets, but that she was _unwilling_-she had reached her limit with all the secrecy she had married into, and as she lay on her lush bed watching Leah clean her room...

She decided to release her load, as she was near-so certain she was, so close she could feel it-to the gates of heaven. She dared not, reach them with as much baggage as the ones she had been given by Philip Erikson's life and family.

"Girl..." Mrs Erikson called.

"Annabelle asked me not to disturb you" Leah murmured, smiling at the woman.

"It's Leah, isn't it?" Mrs Erikson asked "What a lovely name"  
"Thank you"  
"My name is Anna" Mrs Erikson laughed. "I had to put up quite a fight to get my daughter to be named that"  
"I wish you had called her that only" Leah laughed "The 'belle' part is very... unnecessary"  
"Oh, but I wanted her to be more her own person" Mrs Erikson smiled "You see how she looks like me? Well, you wouldn't see it in my current state but there is a painting of me in this very hallway on the bedroom floor... I bet you thought it was her?"  
"I did" Leah admitted.

"Well, it's _me_..." Mrs Erikson smiled, closing her eyes slowly "In my youth, in my prime... and I wasn't a surly sulking girl like Annabelle is..."  
"That's good to hear!" Leah laughed.  
"It isn't her fault" Mrs Erikson opened her eyes and gave Leah a sharp look "It isn't any of my children's faults"

"I... meant no harm?"  
"I know you didn't" Mrs Erikson breathed. "The fault is in _Philip"  
_"How?" Leah asked.

"I could have handled all the other secrets, had that one little one never happened" Mrs Erikson said bitterly "Well, it happened and I was the good wife about it. Infidelity, Leah... something that I have accepted as every man's lifetime sin"

"He cheated on you?" Leah wasn't surprised.

"Oh, all the time..." Mrs Erikson laughed "In this small _fucking_ town, he had the _audacity_ to cheat! But back then, I didn't know he was this way... although his mother had warned me. I found out... in a very unpleasant manner... he had made a girl pregnant. And I... as his good wife, had had to take care of it in the end"  
"...take care of it in the end?" Leah asked, dusting cloth in hand and sitting mesmerized by Mrs Erikson's side.

"In the end" Mrs Erikson said bitterly, her pale blue eyes filled with anger. "I am going to tell you something Leah, and I will have you take it as a confession"  
"I am no priest" Leah said quickly "I am a stranger!"  
"Strangers are the most worthy priests" Mrs Erikson whispered "Now listen closely... it doesn't matter if you think I am mad from my stroke and fevers, what matters is that I tell someone... I get it out of me and away from me!"

"What matters is that someone knows..." Mrs Erikson sighed.

Xx~xx~xX

When she was a young girl, Anna Erikson had been taught the important lessons of life by her mother. There were only two really, only two for women in their little town with its wealth and ancient traditions... that shunned development to some extent and with biased precision.

Firstly, she was to be a good wife. Secondly, she was to always protect the blood of her family...

Of course, she had interpreted this to mean something logical in its metaphorical undertones but when she met Philip-when she was introduced to him, and given to him-she was married into the most bizarre truth to her mother's words that she could have ever have come to on her own.

In the fifth year of their marriage, when she was pregnant with Dominic, Anna found out from her husband's controlling mother that the many prestigious lands that many families owned in Malwood were filled with tombs and cellars to hold great beasts of the moon, to keep them from running wild through the town... and away from their families. For each of the noble families, contained a curse in them... that travelled through the blood, picking its way amongst offspring for suitable candidates to hold in ransom.

She was not given time to adjust to this knowledge, before another truth to her marriage emerged-a truth about Philip; he was a cheat and one that had no respect or concern for Anna, past her title-and the clumsiness of him to have impregnated a woman. Her mother-in-law promised her it would be taken care of, there was no need for Anna to upset herself by confronting an indifferent and equally oblivious Philip (the girl had come to Philip's mother and not Philip, with the news-with hopes this would include her in the riches of Malwood).

Of course, a mother like the one Philip had, had about as much compassion as a rock-and the girl soon found herself disowned by her own family... the child rejected by the Erikson's and set to a trial that led to her being banished into the 'Free Range' woods by month end.

Anna knew what was meant by that, she understood what was being done-for in her anger and fear of the curse she now found herself in, she sought to understand it. And she did, she learnt to tell the signs of a werewolf and she learnt of the land. She knew that as much as the curse was limited to the noble families, and that these families tended to handle their afflicted members in as civilised a manner as to lock them up in their estate and let the violence go through its one week course...

There were others who allowed their relations to be given free range in the forest, to uproot and tear and kill until the moon had hidden itself once more at the end of the week. She couldn't let that happen, she couldn't allow the woman to be killed in such a manner-was it her fault truly that she had found herself pregnant with Philip Erikson's child? So Anna let the girl work on the property, with the boy... praying that it may, in fact, not be Philip's child...

In the end, it was no problem, because when it came to women, Philip's state of memory was nonexistent and he didn't remember the girl... remorseless scoundrel that he was.

Xx~xx~xX

"Hmm" Mrs Erikson breathed, staring at Leah's face "You look like you..."  
"Are spooked?" Leah finished.

"No, you look like you already believe me"

"Impossible!" Leah said quickly. "Werewolves and dungeons? Who could believe that!?"

"Someone who has seen _some_ side of the supernatural" Mrs Erikson said knowingly.

"Your son... he is in a chamber somewhere far on your property?"  
"Of course" Mrs Erikson said casually.

"But your husband..."Leah breathed, frowning in confusion "You see how absurd it is... how do I know your son hasn't gone off with a girl or something?"  
"It skipped him" Mrs Erikson ignored Leah's fake disbelief "It chooses the ones with light, so it can fed from them. Evil doesn't reward, it damns. And this town is filled with damned souls... As for Philip, he has no light for it to feed from... I doubt he has a soul either"  
"And your daughter?" Leah asked softly. "She isn't part of it... I get why she isn't in on the secret. She isn't a part of the curse yet... only when she is married?"  
"Exactly" Mrs Erikson looked impressed "And besides, a female werewolf... hast been heard of in _centuries_-and when they were found, it was a rarity. Werewolves barely turn females or are they born female. When the hunters came, the females were the first to go"  
"Why kill the females?" Leah asked.  
"Hereditary werewolves are stronger than the infected. There is hierarchy in the genes; werewolves born into it from a female and male carrier, those who were born from the dormant gene and then the infected" she said and then snickering bitterly "But you see, werewolves born from female and male are not only stronger, they carry a poisonous bite, that doesn't turn humans... it kills them"

It killed humans, and stunted the reattachment of vampire limbs, Leah thought.

"You say it's a week thing?" Leah asked.

"Or less for some..." Mrs Erikson sighed "The last day is day for 'shakes', no transformation really... as long as they are in a stable environment with no excitement. They can't control it..."  
"Why not?"  
"How do you control evil?" Mrs Erikson's laughed.

"With good" Leah murmured, more to herself. "With the most pure and concentrated good there is"  
"Love?"

"Well, of course love" Leah smiled.

"I have never heard of a werewolf falling in love..."Mrs Erikson's murmured "And having a happy ending. Do you know why?"  
"Why?" Leah asked.

"When they are beasts... when that demon breaks through their skin, its first instinct is to feed on any light. Wouldn't you say love would be the brightest light to ever exist?"

"Yes" whispered Leah.

"And they are taught this... to be wary of love, because their lover is the one thing that the demon in them will consciously set out to kill because it knows, the demon knows Leah, that it's biggest threat... is this brightest of lights"

Xx~xx~xX

In the week, Leah saw more of Mrs Erikson and found out more about Malwood town. What she found out, with regards to her cause and that of her brother's occupying the outer residents and furthest woods-that were thankfully, away from the Free Range-was that, she couldn't afford to stay longer.

As much as she was in her role of 'bashful quiet' Leah, the hard working 'help', she found herself getting attached to the Erikson's... even the slimy Mr Philip Erikson, with his winking and sly grins, but most of all to the two women of the Erikson name-the wise Anna and her stone daughter, Annabelle.

She had already settled herself to the knowledge that Dominic Erikson would not be seen, as she planned on leaving in the next two day's... when the moon week was over, but in her generous concern... she prayed she would be able to leave Mrs Erikson and her daughter, with a little hope to lead them to happiness.

She could hear frail steps moving p the stairs, and over the floor but she remained focused on wiping the glass covered portrait of Mrs Erikson. Whoever it was, she would allow them to speak to her first...

She was, after all, the help.

The footsteps stopped suddenly, and in her knowledge of the floor she knew that their position only meant that they had stopped in from of the bedroom door she knew had not contained a soul since her arrival-the bedroom of the missing brother of Annabelle Erikson.

She looked to her left abruptly, and saw the thin frail bruised man staring at her in confusion with eyes so haunting, that although they were blue and ice cold-she felt her heart pull and stutter at the passion they evoked in her-for her silently grieving soul immediately cried out for Charles Black.

He held her to the spot, his eyes burning with cold flames and almost searing her hold on the shy character of 'Leah point two', before he so suddenly released her she was left reeling, disappearing into his bedroom and slamming the door with energy that defied his fragility and leaving Leah staring bewildered at the place he once stood, with nothing but a humming bird heart beat to tell of the electricity that had travelled from the man to her.

Xx~xx~xX

That next day, Mrs Erikson had spent the morning vomiting, and this development alerted Leah that she had to move her agenda quickly from the town-balancing her days at the Erikson manor and trying to manage the violent werewolf that Matthew was turning into at every night, while convincing her brothers to _not _rip a leg off of him in their steadily growing dislike for the terrifying beast-all of this, was leaving her exhausted. And if she was tired, she was unable to watch every security point and keep her pack safe.

"I have to go, Seth" she sighed, swinging the little black hand bag over her shoulder swiftly and tying her hair into the standard 'bun' that Annabelle forced all the housekeepers to don.

"Yeah sure... you know, you have it easy, Lee" Seth grumbled, the right side of his face sporting a 'Emily' like scar, that was healing considerably slowly for a wolf. "You don't have to worry about him while you are there-you don't have to spend your time checking he doesn't swallow his tongue when he has a fit or something... and then at night..."  
"Last night, I helped you all..." Leah sighed.

"You had to!" Seth laughed hard and bitterly "He was getting out of hand!"  
"Seth come on..." Embry sighed, limping out of the bedroom "Leah isn't going over into town to sit around having coffee... you know that"

"I..." Seth paused, looking down and then back at Leah apologetically "I just... he... is a lot of work"  
"Seth, I get it... the whole Edward and the Werewolf thing" Leah sighed "But think, we can find out how to get a cure for Edward this way... and we can understand werewolves too"

"I mean, I don't think Matthew wants this" Embry murmured, folding his arms "And from what you say Leah, he hasn't even got the option of stopping like us. He can't control it, he can't tame it... this is _forever_"

"Anna says they die in the end" Leah whispered "From hunger"  
"Hunger?" Seth and Embry asked in unison and Leah shrugged.

"No one here knows why, but the werewolves... they need a certain... sustenance"  
"Oh I can guess what it is" Seth said bitterly "Vampire"

Xx~xx~xX

"You going to tell me what this business of you being ill is about?" Leah asked Mrs Erikson and the aged woman laughed hoarsely.

"You are way to sharp!"

"I am... it's a curse" Leah said dryly.

"Suicide" Mrs Erikson said casually "I am incapable of murdering Philip... but I thought maybe I was could just be done with him in another way"

"I have a better option" Leah said "Take Annabelle, and leave this place... go far, far away"  
"Leave?" Mrs Erikson tried to lean forward on her bed, but Leah pushed her back down gently "Me? Leave... you think I haven't thought about it? But Leah... there is no way Annabelle and I can leave, without taking the monster with us"  
"Leave Dominic!" Leah hissed "He seems..."  
"Cold and distant?" Mrs Erikson offered and Leah nodded. "He is... since he became ill this way. But that isn't where the monster is, Leah..." Mrs Erikson lifted a thin bony hand, pushing her sleeve up with difficulty and revealing a pale arm, she pointed to the prominent veins along "This is where the monster is... in here, in our blood. We can never leave... without dying first"

The door opened slowly and Dominic walked in, immediately giving Leah a disapproving look, frowning at how she at on Mrs Erikson's bedside. Behind him, Philip entered with Annabelle.

"Ms Leah" Dominic drawled, glaring at Leah until she awkwardly rose from the chair and moved a step back, picking her dusting cloth "We didn't get your last name?"

"It's on my c.v" Leah murmured, trying to stay in character but unable to stop the biting "I am sure you have gone _through_ it, Dominic"  
"It's Mr Erikson, Ms Leah Rachel" Dominic said coolly, standing at the other side of his mother's bed, opposite Leah.

"Ah, Dominic, when have you bothered yourself with the help!" Philip laughed. "You are back two days and you haven't even rested! Leave Leah be... I like her!"

"You like her far enough only because you have not had the time to properly analyse how good our little helper is at helping _you,_ father" Dominic stated, his eyes burning a hole on the side of Leah's head.

"She is staying!" Mr Erikson snapped. "Your mother likes her, and that will be enough for you, boy!"

"Dominic!" Mrs Erikson laughed "There aren't a lot of bright girls left in the world... very rare creatures, with all the men that hunt them down!"

"Look at your sister, generic as they get in lack of wits!" Mr Erikson scoffed, shoving past a bony haggard Dominic to stand beside his wife, lighting a cigar indifferently. Annabelle paled, looking away before jumping when her phone let out a chirp and then exiting... all while Dominic watched his sister's exit suspiciously.

"I don't trust here" Dominic insisted "She has... agenda's"

"Is it my being Native American?" Leah asked Dominic.

"You know it isn't!" Dominic snapped.

"Sure seems that way" Leah sighed sadly "I'll go and pack""  
"Please do..." Dominic glowered at her, and she left without another word-desperately ignoring Mrs Erikson's pleas. Her work was done, it was the last day of the week and the pack and their new shabby member... could be well on their way now.

Xx~xx~xX

She moved calmly through the woods, in her human form, her thoughts drifting to Charles as they always did. She wondered about him, she wondered about how Angela was fairing with the boy she had raised... she wondered how Renesme was handling Charles double nature, she wondered if Charles had managed to keep Jacob there... and in the same breath, she knew that Charles was no longer with Renesme or Edward, and Angela either. She thought Jacob had left them too, but not to go with Charles... Jacob, she thought, had left-to either become the wolf fully or become a man once more. Nothing in between...

Her arrival to the cabin was met with commotion, and as she skipped inside quickly-she saw Seth with his deep prejudice against wolves, shaking and shimmering while dangling a skeletal sweaty pale Matthew up in the air, holding him by the neck. Embry and Billy were desperately trying to calm Seth, but he wouldn't have it... growling and snarling at a terrified Matthew.

"The hell!" Leah hissed "Seth...!"  
"He sent her a text... with directions to the cabin!" Seth roared. Leah immediately understood what was happening, although she had kept the little detail of Matthew being in love with Annabelle Erikson to herself-a grim controversy, with the positive suspicion that the two were half brother and sister.

"We can't trust this rabid mangy...!" Seth hissed, the words stuck in his throat as his face momentarily twisted into something inhuman.

"Seth, we are similar...!" Leah hissed.

"He is like... a retarded cousin?" Embry offered.

"We are not in the same fucking species!" Seth roared "Don't even think about romanticizing it!"

"Seth, he isn't an it...!" Leah cried.

"_It _is a something!" Seth laughed manically.

"Seth, enough!" Leah roared and Seth casually tossed Matthew aside so the frail man went crashing into the couch painfully.

"I had to say goodbye!" Matthew insisted, rasping and touching his neck and then he grimaced "I love her! Can't you understand... I love her!"

Leah flinched, staring into Matthew's eyes, wondering if their blue was a dimmed down version of Dominic's cold frozen ones. She opened her mouth to say something, a confession about everything she was sure... but behind her, a car roared and hissed to a stop.

"Well, that would be Annabelle" Leah said parched, but the slamming car door was contradictory to Annabelle Erikson's rigid elegance, the stumbling exhausted step all wrong to Annabelle's dainty strict gait.

"Matthew Delong!" Dominic roared, attempting to slam against the sturdy door. All the wolves froze, staring at a frightened sweating Matthew.

"Dude, I think that knock is for you..." Bradley murmured "If you didn't hear the scream of your first and last name..."  
"Open the door" Collin added "It's rude to pretend not to be home"  
"Right" Matthew rose shakily from the couch and walked over to the shuddering yelling door. He opened it and Dominic stumbled in, regaining his footing before attacking Matthew in a harassment of shoves and pulls-that were impossibly harmless to both frail men.

"This is just sad" Embry sighed to Leah, watching the withered boxing match "This town is sad. I will never ever feel pity for myself after this"  
"...stay away from her!" Dominic yelled, shaking and eyes feverish.

"This is the last goddamned day!" Leah sighed "Of course this prick would make it eventful!"  
"I... knew it..." Dominic stuttered, eyes momentarily a blue fierceness as he shuffled dazed toward Leah, before his eyes slid to a hellish yellow. "You... you... trying to get Annabelle... and her... inheritance..."  
"What?" Embry guffawed but any questions or theories fell into the air, as the wolves suddenly felt a chill in the little heated cabin -a coldness that ran over their naturally blazing skin, and one they had been feeling every night over the past week. Before Dominic Erikson had fallen to the timbre floor to succumb to the torturously long transformation of his curse, shoes and pants were removed.

"Wait... Matthew isn't turning!" Embry yelled mid kicking off his pants, pointing at a startled Matthew staring in horror at a twisting and grunting Dominic.

"Matthew..." Leah instructed clearly, casually tossing her bra to the side, the air filled with Dominic's grunts and splintering cracking bones harmonizing with him "...I suggest you go to the garage, get into the Jeep and drive to the gas station outside of town. Spent the night there... we'll come and get you in the morning, when Mr Erikson is calm, unconscious and human"  
"You are bringing him with us?" Matthew asked in disbelief "The whole point of me agreeing with you, Leah, was for me to leave my past!"  
"This isn't about you!" Leah watched in fear as Dominic twisted and bruised his way steadily into the wolf-ogre "After this, he will know what my brother's and I are... and that will include him in our secret..." she said, her brothers were already on all fours, furniture broken and the cabin ready to be ripped apart "And some secrets once shared, bind for eternity. I can't afford loose ends, I am trying to save a lot more than one measly self obsessed person here... now, get the hell out and wait at the fucking station...!"

Xx~xx~xX

"You..." Dominic whispered, chuckling bitterly "Werewolf?"  
"No" Leah sighed, watching the world zoom by as she pushed the Erikson's shiny car over the highway, the morning was chasing them far from Malwood. Behind them, the Jeep kept up easily.

"Right" he said derisively "I heard once... there was only once female werewolf in America"  
"And where would she be?" Leah asked the half drunk tortured man,  
"The last place anything on four legs would want to go. The Big City, locked away by water" Dominic slurred, drifting into stillness, his worn weary face slackening into something vaguely relaxed. The anger and pain he carried-that intrigued Leah in its immortal likeness to a being that had ceased to live more than one lifetime thanks to the other side of its cure, dying of starvation-all that nasty bitter tension was banished, and he was in that moment... as he slumbered.. A curse free beautiful man.

"She-wolf in the big city" Leah said thoughtfully, smiling at her luck as all the mysteries and mythology of the world had led her on one productive path "It must be lonely in that concrete jungle, cousin"

Xx~xx~xX

**Authors note:**

**Err... review your thoughts, likes, questions and dislikes!**

**Xx**

**TJ**


	18. Welcome, To Normalcy

**WELCOME, TO NORMALCY**

The music roared loud in her little car. Windows shuddering and a small trace of scratching, speakers protesting the volume she had cranked the stereo up to. It was the first week of school, she was a senior and finally, without a doubt, at the top of the food chain.

"Mhmm" Caroline hummed, busying herself with her folder and designer bag, slamming her brand new car door with little care in the world, her favorite pop tune resounding in her mind, over any worries about Math or her dismal performance in science. She was at the top of the food chain, single and ready to conquer high school.

She was already drawing up a list of guys from last year who would be the perfect candidates to help her rule Pebblestone High, who would help ensure she was the most awed… coveted girl… in the school.

"You are an insult to life, a decrepit wasteful organism… you should close your mouth and save oxygen for those who have something worthy to contribute to this dire situation we are in… going on about Masen this and Masen that…!" a girl hissed, slamming the door of a rusted truck with so much force that the whole frame work of the sturdy vehicle groaned, and Caroline went stumbling into the strange girl's back in surprise. The girl did not care to budge, turning around to glare at Caroline with a venom that was only ever released by Caroline… never ever had Caroline found herself on the receiving end of it.

"Watch were you are going!" the girl growled, turning around fully to look Caroline over, arching an eyebrow and menacing in her height, the light was behind her and the anonymous girl's face bathed in shadows.

"Excuse me?!" Caroline guffawed. "You must be new here… let me lay down some facts of the life at Pebblestone High. Firstly, you are supposed to watch were _I am_ going and secondly…!"

"I'd rather run home than share the same space with you, mutt… dog breath and brain! Worst combination…" the girl didn't even give Caroline a chance to prove that she too, had venom, turning so suddenly and gracefully that her shining bronze hair fanned out beautifully before she waltzed off, busying herself with tying the gorgeous blood tinted brown mass into a tight pony high up on her head.

"The fuck!" Caroline breathed, dropping her file on the ground in her anger. She heard the door of the truck open, already furious with the anonymous person on behalf of the bronze beauty and preparing herself for revenge.

"I know, right…" a deep rumbling husky voice breathed. She looked up and met a chest, further up and she saw a strong defined neck twisted slightly, head staring out to the school-following the red head Caroline presumed. When he turned his head, looking down at her and grinning impishly with the most inviting smirk, Caroline was sold.

Eyes fluttering, heart squeezing and electricity tingling her finger tips, Caroline forgot all about the impromptu realization that being Queen meant fighting to keep the title. She tilted her head; allowed her blonde hair to move over her face and said softly "Won't you help me with my file?"

"…the fuck…?" the beautiful russet man-or very well defined boy murmured, and gave Caroline a once over that left her feeling inadequate and stupid before chortling and walking off-her file, still on the ground were she had dropped it.

"The mother fucking fuck!"Caroline stomped her foot, looked around her to make sure she had parked her car in the right car park of the right school and growled when it was indeed, the right school. There was nothing left to be done, but to pick up her own file and walk alone to school… with another realization that there were, indeed, other human beings in the world who were, in fact, much more attractive than she was.

What upset her though, about these _other_ human beings in the world, was their audacity to come in to _her _world where she was supposed to be supreme ruler!

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Was it possible to be ordinary after living amongst the extraordinary? Was it possibly to remain me, after having to chip away at those pieces of me that were too weak to live in such… bizarreness.

The arrival into Pebblestone Valley had been uneventful for the most part, there were no white ghosting forces zapping through the terrain surrounding the road we were travelling on, Jacob and Renesme's arguing… I soon realized, was for the most part harmless-as long they kept of _certain_ 'imprint' topics. Just like Renesme had said, it would be easy for her to forge her and Jacob's way into high school and the rest was easy since I really was my age and I really qualified for a job.

It was the changing the name part that didn't sit well with me.

Weber… that was my name, it had been my name forever and I had changed it once and in some way, I thought that I had lost myself in the role of Florence Nightingale. But Isabella and the Volturi would most certainly be looking out for a Weber, a Black, a Cullen name that would pop out together in one place.

So I settled for Denver, it rhymed with Weber and Jacob was willing enough to fall under it. It was too much of a stretch to claim Renesme as anything, and she was unwilling… adamant to be a Masen, even though it was on the potential Volturi red alert. And as they woke up for school, they argued-Renesme had in her way, tricked Jacob and I into accepting 'Denver' so she could be the one to claim a name that was technically her own regardless.

I was glad that I didn't have to be in the car with them, with their hissing and spitting, growling and snarling-in between melancholia as they both missed the same people, worried over their one son and prayed over their entire immortality.

"They got my name on… cute" I sighed, parking into 'Ms Angela Denver' easily. The car next to mine was vaguely similar in pricing and year and this filled me with relief. I had been so scared to hope fully, to allow myself to be taken over by that feeling that resembled love or infatuation-that warmth and comfort that tomorrow was going to be okay.

You couldn't afford to think like that, not in this time that I had found myself alive in-not in _their_ immortality, that was surrounding me. I wondered if there had ever been a time of bliss for them, a time when they had never had to worry about the Volturi or Joham, or mind erasing vampires and werewolves. It was strange, to think that the only time they had ever seemed entirely normal and somewhat happy… were those first few weeks at Forks High, when they were the snobbish 'Cullens', sitting alone with each other on a table just outside the ring of tables in the cafeteria.

I could remember it like it was yesterday, like it was only three minutes ago… looking across and watching as the two pairs of strange couplings busied themselves with each other while the lone long beautiful pale bronze haired boy sat leaning away from the table, watching them with an expression that seemed mingled in disdain and yearning for what he seemed to hate and want simultaneously.

I wasn't infatuated with Edward, something about him being _seventeen_, whether eternally or otherwise made the notion of such a thing… so… wrong. I wasn't… I was just curious, as I was with all of them. Him more so, because truthfully, I had had a crush on him at that time. I had thought of him far too much when I was sixteen-thought about his sadness, his frowning, his pomposity…

And that curiosity was rekindled now that I knew the kind of loneliness one can expect in immortality, whether surrounded by others or locked away in a high tower.

"Your class schedule, Angela" the woman smiled, handing me a thin blue file with three papers slipped inside it. I was looking forward to it, to being a teacher… to being in a classroom and having a set schedule of utter boredom and stagnancy.

I was looking forward to being normal.

Xx~xx~xX

Children are nasty filthy things.

They remain that way until they are dumped in the ocean of life, and forced to swim and kick and shed all that spoilt selfishness that makes them truly horrible beings. But it takes a while for them to reach that age, and sometimes… they drown instead of swimming. Some of them, I hoped, would sink right to the bottom of the ocean.

They watch me move through the corridor like hyenas spotting out a weak prey about to collapse from being so battered and fragile through living. Snickers, pointing at my mussed up hair (that had grown in odd choppy layers ever since Isabella's unwanted hair cut, and I had failed to rectify the situation ever since I found myself stuck in a boring town with the _ever_ interesting Cullens) and my obvious fear of my new environment.

My classroom isn't as small as I expected. It is bare, and as I read over my class list and schedule, I saw a little note that I should include working on the interior of the room in one lesson with my senior class. They did it each year, apparently… with each new piece of literature. This year, it was a piece on Shakespeare…. Unsurprisingly. Deceit and jealousy, were the order of the day for all those who thought music was the food of love…

Let's see someone play a happy tune for that red eyed Jane girl and if she would start stroking peoples minds with rainbows then!

"You must be Angela Denver?" he asked and I jumped. Stupid reaction to someone who lived with vampires and Jacob and Renesme-who were just as stealthy. I just hadn't thought I would have to worry about whooshing sounds…

He hadn't made a whooshing sound, I realized. He had simply been standing by the doorway since I had arrived in the classroom. I was blushing stupidly, my hand touching my hair self consciously-sometimes it felt like people were about to get a ruler to point out the many distinguishable variations in length surrounding it. He smiled at me and I realized I was staring at him like he was a martian.

"I'm next door" he said "Art"

"Art…err… your name?"

"No, _Art_. I teach senior Art?" he raised an eyebrow, his lips quirking into a grin. "But my name is Jonathan… if that's more acceptable than err.. art"

"Ha… ha… ha" the fakest laugh in history delivered by Angela Weber… no, Nightingale… Florence. Shit.

"Yeah, my humor is an acquired taste!" he was unfazed by my rigidness and fear of human contact. He leaned against the doorframe and looked me over, before pointing casually at me "You are dressed like an Art Teacher. I almost caught a fright… thought you were here to kick me out of a job!"

I looked down at my loose shirt and even looser pants before frowning up at him. "I like these pants" I said, hearing Renesme's droning 'you look like you are going through chemotherapy' in the back of my mind. I almost expected Jacob's booming howling laugh to erupt in my head…

"I like them too" Jonathan said.

"Should I be worried I have similar tastes to an artist?" I said "You are an artist?"

"You teach English.." he said slowly, placing a finger on his chin "But I don't think you are English. You don't look it… you have an… exoticness about you"

"You look like an artist! That's different!" I laughed, the first laugh to leave my chest outside of the small bubble around me, brought from living with immortals. It was addictive, I was drowning in its purity and fragility… I was looking like a maniac as I struggled to stop giggling. When I looked up at him, he didn't seem disturbed… more amused, and this made it easier to stop laughing.

"The bells going to go in about…" he looked up at an intercom mounted in the corner of the ceiling, between the joints of the wall. A droning bell rang and Jonathan smiled "…I'd say about now. See you at lunch, Ms Denver"

"See you at lunch, Mr… Art" I said lamely, but his returning smile made it all okay.

The absurdness of it all, to be terrified and excited of this normal mortal thing called teaching and high school when I would be going home to immortal half vampires and shape shifters… that I had about as much fear of as two indulged troubled brats, that I was struggling to hold up and straight as adults. Actual living adults, and not the messed up immortal variety walking the earth…

Xx~xx~xX

Seeing Jacob and Renesme in my classroom was odd at first.

Renesme went to sit right at the back, her hair pulled in a pony so tight that those large eyes of hers were brought to the forefront of her aesthetics and as she didn't spare a smile if she could help it… she looked as cold and heartless as her vampiric DNA suggested she should be. But I could see her discomfort, her uneasiness and nervousness at being in a place were people kept staring back at the new girl.

I had thought that being with Jacob would have put her mind off of things…

But Jacob sauntered in with a throng of people chattering about him, laughing with him and falling over themselves for him-he sat in the middle and leaned back into his seat with all these human subjects adoring and willing to follow him readily.

The first week, was hell, for Renesme Masen…. Whether she would admit it, or not.

Xx~xx~xX"

"I thought one of the rules was no sports?" I asked and Renesme agreed loudly and energetically.

"It's just football" Jacob sighed "I never got to be on a football team"

"You'll trample those children!" Renesme said, something about her tone suggested a sense of triumph, as though that was precisely what she wanted.

"Jake, not a good idea.." I sighed and Jacob shrugged his shoulders.

"Sort of knew it anyway…" he sighed.

"And what part of blending in don't you get?" Renesme accused "You can't be on everyone's lips if you are blending in"  
"I am just being myself" Jacob chirped, swinging his bag over his shoulder "Maybe you should try not to be yourself…"

"I have done this before!" Renesme hissed "Unlike you, I don't need to worry about Math exams and _shit!_"

Of course, unlike Renesme… Jacob had technically dropped out of high school.

"Someone is a little jealous" Jacob grinned.

"I am not jealous!" Renesme snarled, then turning to me she demanded "Tell him I am not jealous, Angela. Tell him now!"

"I… well, you see… you are kind of… taking this hard…"

"I am not!" Renesme shrieked so loudly and freakily that I cringed back, my hands going over my ears. "And you!"

Jacob was already out the door, the car started and pulling out of the driveway. He had thrown me to the bronze haired wolf… I would have to take Renesme to school, in her current pmsing zone.

"What about me?" I asked exasperated. She followed me to the car, flustered and full of boiling indignation about something more serious than jealousies over Jacob's easy amicability to children his _own _age.

"Mr Welling likes you" she stated and my mind turned, flipping the familiar sound of the name with the image of Jonathan. I had stuck to calling him 'Mr Art' and he had allowed it. "Do something about it!"

"Err, okay…" I sighed.

"Do you need help along the way?"

"How could you possibly help me… not that I need it, or want it!" I laughed.

"I could give him the idea to ask you out" she waved her hand in the air indicatively.

"Whatever" I sighed, and it was only when I was sitting alone in my classroom, marking an atrocious bunch of homework did I realize what Renesme's little hand wave suggested.

Xx~xx~xX

Normality was like a step by step programme that allowed you to adjust and grow in it, to lean into the idea of it gradually so you could accept it willingly. But immortality was like a tornado that whisked you up and flung you around, demanding you submit, forced you to accept.

"…it's really cute, I think you will like it. Little flowers along the path and this one table…" he was saying, little markers of shyness erupting all over his face. He couldn't hold my gaze although it was hidden behind my horrid glasses, he was making an odd twitching gesture with his hand and his left leg did an odd pointing thing. I had never been so… detailed in my environment. So aware…

I liked the nervousness, I liked his fidgeting. I liked the normalness. I was smiling and that put him at ease.

"It sounds like it will be a perfect night" I told him and it was the first time I had seen Jonathan look somewhat young. He had to be slightly older than I was, he had graying hair at his temples and lines that suggested a lot of laughter and occasional seriousness. His blue eyes were sparkling although pale, and in them I saw that part of his spirit was still youthful. Still adventurous. An artists soul that had, unfortunately, been weathered by life and living.

"Is that a yes?" he asked, both his eyebrows rising with hope.

"Yes, it's a yes…" I smiled.

Only when he went out, and I was left grinning like an idiot, did I realize that I was going on a date… and that, I was terrified.

Xx~xx~xX

"Who knew that all those shadows on your sweaters and t-shirts were actually boobs begging to be seen" Renesme smiled "They are almost the same size as mine, how you managed to hide them…"

"Yeah, yeah… I get it" I sighed, fidgeting under her harassing of my hair. She was snipping and brushing, while humming that favorite tune of hers wistfully. The dress was beautiful, the woman staring at me from the mirror beautiful too… but the woman I was, sitting on the stool and allowing an ethereal vampire to make me somewhat attractive, she knew that it was too early to hope.

But she wasn't always one for bright decisions, and there it was, the warmth of hope glowing inside me. I was trying not to move from date with Jonathan to marriage and a picket fence all in the space of a second blink and a minute of musing.

"All done" Renesme looked proud of herself, as though she had birthed me. It was the first time I could see she wasn't lost in her worries for Charles. She walked around, half worrying about her runaway son and her mother and the other half was left to deal with the world. "Jacob is telling Jonathan about your family…'

"My family?" I blinked confused at Renesme.

"You have to remember this stuff, Angela!" Renesme groaned. "You and Jacob are brother and sister… so Jake, is giving his wolf version of the 'if you harm my sister…'"

"Sounds… embarrassing"

"It is" Renesme admitted. "Well then, go and have fun…?"

"Will do" I breathed, nervous and anxious.

"For the both of us" she whispered back, so softly the words turned into one soft ringing chime.

Xx~xx~xX

"I had a great time" he tells me and I smile shyly. I had a great time too, I felt beautiful next to his ordinary endearing 'half-attractiveness', and for a change, there was something I had to offer that he had never heard before. We are by the door, the night is cool and starry and he is nervous again.

"Did I tell you I had a great time?" he asks softly, and I nod eagerly. He takes another step forward and I feel the door behind me. "You are very beautiful" he sighs, touching a lock of hair that would normally not be so curled or shiny.

"Hmm" I nod again, he is torturing me with nervousness. I had forgotten how to do it, so strange when all my life I had been shy… how had I forgotten this fact while living with beings who challenged my self esteem with their unnatural perfection? How indeed… but the nerves are delicious, the fear and anticipation thrilling.

"Can I kiss you?" he asks and I don't answer, simply lurching forward suddenly and meeting his lips in a shameful desperation. It's sloppy at first because I startled him but he smiled over my kissing and returns my eagerness, pushing me against the door and touching me with warm hands were my black dress fails to cover arms and legs (Renesme's fashion sense when it came to me did not reflect her nun's attire-she insisted I go cleavage out and legs a-mile a piece).

We are touching and grabbing, and he stops suddenly, out of breath. I am giggling, I have been doing that throughout the night, and I don't care… it's a silly sound, that he seems to like. "Wow, what a goodnight kiss…"

"Goodnight?" I raised an eyebrow and his eyes twinkle with excitement "I was thinking good morning…"

The kissing resumes, the keys are out, he is trying to open the door behind my back while abusing my backside and we stumble into the house breathy and laughing.

"Not on the first date, Angela…" Renesme drones and I freeze, Jonathan skipping away from me in fright. I am about to say something, mouth to her how utterly wrong this is… but standing in the middle of my lounge, a few feet apart and appearing to not have witnessed two grown people groping each other, are Carlisle, Esme, Jacob, Renesme and Edward.

"Hi" Jonathan's voice lifts the spell that had left my mouth dangling in disbelief and mild embarrassment. I was more in shock to see them, than anything. "Angela, aren't you going to…erm…"

"Right, err.. right" I point back at Jonathan abruptly, poking his chest "This is a… colleague of mine… Jonathan… this…."

"Dr Masen and my wife, Elma" Carlisle said, smiling as friendly and beautifully as I had ever seen him while Esme looked as courteous and demure as ever. I am see the lines purple lines peeking out of Carlisle's shirt, scars that I am sure are being hidden behind the shirt. "You know my daughter, Carlie… she has been staying with Angela until our arrival?"

"Yes, of course" Jonathan smiles at an indifferent Renesme, whose eyes are red. I am aware, now, that Edward is here without Charles…

"Our eldest… Anthony" Carlisle pointed to an impassive Edward and Jonathan muttered a hello.

"Angela…?" Jonathan breathed and I smiled at him. "I'll see you tomorrow… err, have a pleasant evening everyone!"

Only Carlisle and Esme responded, and in five seconds, his car was driving away… all the normalness gone with the shaky sound of its engine.

"Err…" I was blushing furiously "That…before… the whole… making out thing?" I paused. "Err… can I be allowed to blame my mindless human hormones for this one time?"

"I see you have… adjusted" Edward asked coolly, and I avoided his gaze at all costs. "We apologize for ruining your night" his tone was dry ice-and I wouldn't look away from the floor "I failed to find Charles; a city is… a difficult place. He definitely picked the perfect place to lose Bella and Jane. Sunlight, too many humans and fewer animals… tracking a single scent in that putrid air is a test. I found Carlisle and Esme… and I managed to reach Renesme"

"Great" I managed, trying to tell myself that it was all in my imagination that every pair of eyes was stinging me with reproach. "Do you think… Charles is…"

"I think he is safe" Edward said, his tone changing slightly to allow an emotion-conviction. "I'll stay with Esme and Carlisle…" he said and by the time I looked up at him, I didn't know what it was I wanted to say… he was gone, his 'Goodnight' left hanging in the air.

"Night" I squeaked, regardless of his disappearance.

"He is finding it difficult" Carlisle said "Not finding Charles… not even a scent or an image in a beings mind. Difficult"

"Of course" I agreed, watching as Carlisle, Esme left… Renesme indicating to them that she would follow soon.

"Not awkward at all" Jacob sighed.

"We have to look for him" Renesme said to Jacob, holding his arm. He didn't flinch, and held her desperate gaze. "Maybe it has to be us who search for him…?"

"You heard Edward, Nessie" he told her softly "The only way we could find Charles, is if he came to us. We can't feel him out, we can't get into his head… we have no way of sensing were he is… if he is close or far, but he would see us from a mile coming"

"But he would see us and come!" Renesme said stubbornly and Jacob shook his head.

"Ness, he'll come back to us on his own" he said "I promise"

Xx~xx~xX

Pebblestone High didn't receive a lot of transfers, and certainly not as many as they had received in the space of three weeks. First, it had been the quiet Ms Denver... and that had gone virtually unnoticed, as the woman herself was only odd and strange when under deliberate observation but at any other time as she walked through the corridors hugging the walls and clutching her folders for dear life... she was, simply forgettable.

But that had changed, with the inclusion of two new students in the second week, at the same time and the school had had little time to adjust or prepare-but plenty of time to discuss the matter. By the end of that second week, it was established that Ms Denver had moved to Pebblestone Valley with her younger brother after a very horrible divorce. Although the resemblance between the slightly tan and awkward Ms Angela Denver and her fully Native American brother Jacob Denver was all... mystery, after much discussion and absurd speculation, the two unwitting subjects were said to have a similar smile and eyebrows. The second specimen... a strange and silent beautiful pale girl with interesting brown hair, a Carlie Masen, had received a lot of discussion in a single short period of time before being forgotten about altogether-save to be analyzed for being cold and distant, and hated increasingly for being beautiful and constantly in the vicinity of the loveable Jacob-constantly orbiting him, but never truly sitting with the amicable young man and his growing group of peers.

It was soon discovered, in the third week, that poor Carlie Masen had only been staying with the Denvers until her parents and twin brother returned from a charity affair or other in a third world country..., and the lovely Ms Denver had been very understanding about it for she was a close friend of the well renowned Doctor Masen, and god mother of Carlie and Anthony.

It all seemed very beautiful and simple, but this was outside of the Pebblestone High world, and in the world of teens... everything, is tainted with feeling and envy...

"I heard he was in jail..."  
"I heard she got pregnant and had an abortion..."

"I heard Jacob and Ms Denver aren't really related but lovers..."

"Oh, she thinks she is better than us!"  
"Oh, he is better than us!"

Their world resounded with whispers as they walked through the door together-a towering lazy Jacob Denver, an elegant rigid Carlie Masen and for the first time to be introduced to the boring society of Pebblestone High...

Anthony Masen.

"I hate this" Anthony breathed, gripping the arm of his bag tightly and closing his eyes for the next few steps he took with his twin sister and close friend. "I hate this a lot"  
"Did you and I ever do high school together?" Jacob asked waving at a tall strapping boy in a football jacket casually, punching an anonymous boy's fist playfully and slapping another young man's back familiarly. Carlie watched all this with silent jealousy, before talking herself into believing her lack of connection with the student body was entirely due to the fact that of present-she was an immortal goddess concerned about her immortal runaway son...

"No" Anthony said. "I am glad... you are bringing in way too much attention"  
"I told him he shouldn't Papa" Carlie grumbled.

"I am not your 'Papa' here" Anthony sighed and Carlie blushed. "I don't see the harm as long as you stay clear of spotlight activities Jacob"  
"I have already spoken to Angela about it..." Jacob murmured, oblivious to Anthony's increased rigidness at the mention of Ms Denver's name. "Okay, I got to go... I definitely don't take... physics"

"Right" Carlie muttered "Of course he doesn't"  
"You have to have faith Ness" Anthony sighed "I went through what Charles is going through once... and I came back. When Carlisle and Esme searched for me... it made me want to lose myself in it more. It has to be his own decision"

"Yes, of course"

"We aren't taking this lightly" Anthony smiled, leaning against the wall and anticipating the boredom of physics and Carlie's silent lamentations on the dreariness and direness of her immortality. "We are taking this realistically... and now that I am more than certain Isabella didn't stick around in the city, I think you shouldn't worry"  
"I am not worried"

"Liar" Anthony laughed, tapping the side of his head.

Xx~xx~xX

**AUTHORS long NOTE:**

**I think there was part were Charles points out that he had been steadily tugging at the imprint to give it obduracy to its rubber band effect. The chapter were he sends Leah off on the bus, he mentions it and if you look back to TSTKF in the end chapters you will remember that Charles had begun distancing himself from Leah in small quantities? In a large portion this answers why Leah isn't curling into a ball and dying. But really, Charles and Leah's imprint isn't like all the other imprints because they are both equals in it, and this makes it stronger and much more enduring to being separate from the other. (Think back, if Leah hadn't imprinted on Charles… it is still very possibly she would have stuck it out with Charles, and raised him while Nessie and Jake were having their issues-compare this fact with Quil and Claire, would quil have hung out with a three year old without the imprint?).**

**Leah would still feel that pain from being away from Charles, but it wouldn't be an 'oh my gosh, let me become a vegetable' type of thing. She would genuinely miss him, albeit on a supernatural level-but it would be ****from her heart**** and ****through the imprint**** rather than ****from the imprint**** and ****through her heart.**

_**Charles is having it**_** worse**** because of his own insecurities when it comes to the imprint-not because the imprint is causing it but his own private emotions. I would like to point out that Charles is a lot more insecure about his imprint with Leah than Leah. He has issues with his worthiness, and then his own instinctual nature that has turned him into something he is terrified off… he is terrified of that sort of pure love and all the stigmas and theories that surround it (the only other imprint couple he knows of intimately, are Jake and Nessie and look how that turned out!), and thus, he is trying to banish it. But as we all know, you cant really banish the imprint… Jacob Black, is the only wolf to ever do that and that was because both parties were pulling… and pulling… and the love, was for the most part lost. Renesme and Jacob's relationship was being held up by the imprint first and then love, and then once Renesme allowed herself to love another and Jacob's realization that he would never have been in love with her without the imprint… well, it weakened it to the point were Jacob **_**could**_** penetrate the imprint on his own. I always think the imprint is more oppressive to the wolf that has imprinted than its imprint.**


	19. Wolf in the City

This was as much freedom as he had ever known. He was not confined by the wealth of his family, he was not restricted by the adoration of his mother nor the disgust his father showed him due to his ailment, he was not bound by his protective nature for his sister… he was not, as terrified of the monster in him as he had been for so long… for all his life. He was free…

Dominic Erikson felt so thrilled and elated, he felt so _deeply_ that he was liberated… although nothing about him had changed save for geography and the riffraff company around him. Of course, on glance or even on closer inspection, nothing about Dominic's temperament in the large apartment filled with loud robust over muscled Native American men suggested that he had gone through a life altering and orgasmic spiritual event. He sat silently, a frown on his pale gaunt face, watching all their shoveling and pushing over the gaming unit with as much agreeableness towards it as a nun would be at ease in a strip club.

Every now and then, his eyes would find themselves drawn to Leah-the unannounced leader and his former house maid. She was hunched over a paper that she was scribbling on furiously while harassing Google on her laptop, earphones in her ears and hair long and straight flowing a considerable length over her back in a black fountain.

"I can't believe they can just turn at will… with no pain" Matthew was attempting conversation with Dominic for the eighth unwanted time, and Dominic remained silent and cold… as he had been most of his life. His anger, his irritation and annoyance was shown in a single twitch of his chapped lips and Matthew sighed noisily, pushing against Dominic's chosen seat of a lumpy beanbag in the corner of the spacious lounge.

"We are not Werewolves" Seth, the man who looked distinctly like Leah save for his curlier hair, smaller eyes and diluted russet tone, growled and Dominic cringed inside. A new fact about staying with the Native American wolves was learning that they heard, smelt and did things with an efficiency that was distinctly inhuman. And a fact about Matthew's inability to just be silent and forgotten was that his comment was heard by the most Anti-Werewolf member of the odd group. "We are not mindless beasts like you…"

"Seth, leave them alone" Embry, the bearded and largest male of the Native American wolves sighed, flinging the gaming console unnecessarily hard at the loudest and most juvenile wolf-Bradley. Dominic thought he felt a bit like Snow White, and instead of dwarves… his life was rescued by body building over six foot something immature men, without any aspiration or drive in their lives save to follow the gorgeous albeit frustrating Leah.

He looked over at Leah again, impulsively and Seth saw this.

"This one keeps looking at Leah" Seth said.

"Dude, 'this one'?" Embry sighed "Firstly, they aren't our prisoners… secondly, they are currently shabby little men in need of a serious dose of sun and a doughnut.."

"Shit, you dudes are _rather_ skinny!" Bradley placed the consol on Billy's lap and got up, standing beside Seth and Embry and all three wolves gazed at Dominic and a nervous Matthew like they were visitors at the zoo.

"Leah!" Seth yelled, never taking his eyes off of Dominic. Leah groaned, slamming her pen violently on the countertop and spinning her seat around, her face already arranged into sharp irritation. She pulled out a single earphone and quirked her mouth, raising her eyebrow in a 'what?' expression. "He keeps looking at you…" Seth pointed at Dominic and Dominic rolled his eyes.

"Thank you for the news update" Leah said monotonously "I am glad to know Dominic's eyes are fully functioning…"

"Are you just going to have us holed up in here until the next full moon?" Dominic asked, ignoring Matthew's sharp breath that suggested he thought Dominic speaking directly to _anyone_ was about as brave as taking on a bull.

"No, you are free to go as you like" Leah pointed to the door. "I just thought you would like to find out more about your ailment" she waved the paper she had been scribbling on.

"There is nothing you are going to get on the internet that's going to be of any use" Dominic rose shakily from his seat and took two steps forward, momentarily barricaded by Seth who moved away stiffly.

"Why don't you just ask me about it?" Dominic sighed, taking the seat next to Leah, and trying not to let her height and aura and how it highlighted how incredibly weaker and smaller he was than her, trying not to let it work on his nerves. He was still in shock on how she had transformed from demureness into scandalous daringness-something about her now suggested she was a lot more dangerous than Seth or Embry… in both a physical and emotional way to Dominic.

"Okay" Leah said "Do you remember anything about your transformations? Matthew doesn't remember anything but the pain…"

"Matthew… was supposed to transform from the latest of thirteen years of age-if he has the gene on both sides like I do" Dominic said looking over to the irritating Matthew-who was having difficulty coming to terms with being at the bottom of the food chain once more. "The first few transformations are hazy, always"

"You say both sides… but wouldn't that make you a pure blooded Werewolf?" Leah asked.

"No, having two transforming parent would make me a pure blooded werewolf" Dominic said "There are no pure blooded werewolves in America"

"So there are more…" Seth breathed, his eyes wide "Shit, there are more… in America, like…. Right next door?"  
"Different towns have their noble families" Dominic said "It's all very secret… well organized to protect the family members who do transform, keeping them in check… no news is ever to be released to the world. Families are very diligent about it… sort of like, caring for someone with a terminal illness… just making it easier for them until they die"

"Being a werewolf is like having cancer?" Embry asked.

"There is a hunger… you feel… when you transform…"Dominic began and then stopped when he saw the fright that had come over Leah's exquisite face. "Yes, you think us disgusting…"

"It isn't that" Leah whispered, swallowing "Continue, Dominic… please…"  
"Have you been feeling that hunger after you turn?" Dominic asked Matthew and Matthew nodded his head stiffly. "I have read my werewolf descendants journals, memoirs… and one thing is certain, that hunger increases with each turn… it drives us mad in our human forms and rabid in our werewolf forms. We grow increasingly weaker, frailer…"

"More than this?" Billy frowned at Dominic's form, the way his shirt hung on him and hair seemed to sit heavily on his head.

"I am at my prime" Dominic let out one sharp miserable chuckle "We are starving… and we don't know what for. Every new moon, every turn as we go along… we are starving, for you see… we need that elusive _something_ to sustain the transformations. As much as we are human now, the beast lurks under our skin… and it is hungry always. I thought once it was for human flesh, but in one journal I read that human's only sustain a werewolf a little longer… you get to live a little longer, but you will always feel that hunger. You know about the Free Range Woods?"

"Yes" Leah breathed, she hadn't realized she was clutching her pen so tightly, placing it shakily on the table. "Your mother told me…"

"Some families allow their afflicted members to roam those woods with the hope that there will be some vagabond or lost soul that could be snatched up and give an added few minutes to their werewolves life…"

"So I am going to die!" Matthew rasped terrified, his eyes large and sunken. "You are saying I have madness and death to look forward to thanks to this thing…! For all I know, you gave it to me!"  
"Do you have a bite on you?" Dominic asked calmly.

"Oh, your sister liked to bite me!" Matthew pointed a bony finger up at Dominic "I could have contracted this from her…"  
"Did you ever get sick? When you were younger and always when there was a full moon?" Dominic asked and Matthew remained silent. "Sweats, fevers… puking?"

Matthew looked away suddenly, paling to a sheet of paper.

"Anyway, your question was about memory…" Dominic sighed "My memories are like watching a horror movie. When I am the beast, I cant feel or think. I cant… know what I am doing, how I am doing it. I recall it when I wake up… and it's a horror movie. Violence, hunger and aggression"

"So do you remember my biting your leg?" Bradley grinned at him.

"I remember the _werewolf _having its leg bitten" Dominic pointed out, touching his still aching left hand. He sighed again and continued "I remember a group of wolves, denying him exit… biting and nipping, pushing and tackling… I would like to point something out to you, Leah… only because your interest in werewolves makes me believe this has everything to do with full blooded werewolves. Matthew and I… all the werewolves that do exist now, the ones who aren't full blooded and the ones who are turned… we are weak. Sure, you can contain us… sure, we are as energetic as sloths with the weakness from being… underfed and we heal relatively slower. But the full blooded ones…"

"We know" Seth breathed, his voice hollow and eyes closed. He opened them, such a violence and hate staring at Dominic and said in an ice tone "I was almost killed by a full blooded werewolf and a friend of mine was left as good as dead…"

"Deader" Embry coughed "As good as deader"

"There are none left…"Dominic began but the expression on Leah's face stopped his rebuke. "You saw…?"  
"I wont be telling you about it, so don't ask" Leah said and Dominic scowled at her.

"You know about the hunger" Dominic guessed and Leah looked away from him "You know, Leah… I have told you what you wanted. The least you could do is show the same courtesy..."

"I am doing you a favor!" Leah breathed "I tell you about your hunger, and what's the first thing you are going to do…? It's an addiction, the hunger… you will be just like a junky skipping through the world picking of your next fix until you bring about so much attention to yourself that someone is going to have to put you down!"

"Leah…" Seth warned, touching his sisters arm. She was shaking, anger and something fearsome sending tremors through her body. "Is there something you want… to share with us?"

"Don't ask about it!" Leah growled, something in her tone sending a thrill over Dominic's spine, and he watched as the muscles in Seth's jaw contracted and released. "Just… I have been searching for another werewolf here and… this city, it's so… vast and… miserable and… I feel like I am exploding from the inside out! I have to stay focused… we need to leave this place, it's pulling me in all directions… this place…"

"What is it, Lee" Embry asked softly where Seth seemed incapable of speaking, his eyes harsh and frustrated on his sister's face. "What are you… feeling?"

"A force" Leah whispered, ignoring Dominic's staring. "A…pull, right here…" she touched the centre of her chest. "It comes and goes, when I am walking through the street or…"

"Thinking about him?" Seth asked, his breath knocking out of him. "Wow, that was the most short lived Alpha edict ever!"

"Yes" Leah frowned. "When I am… thinking about him… Dominic, you said there was a rumor of a female werewolf in the city?"  
"Sure" Dominic sighed, deciding that the secrets of the wolves were not to be poked or questioned as yet "I heard it through the grape vine that scouts…"

"These are your werewolf policemen?" Seth asked derisively.

"…they saw paws in the woods heading out here" Dominic said ignoring Seth "Smaller… different.. you know, no one has ever really seen a female in this generation so…"

"Of course you would think it was female" Leah whispered. "Of course I am failing to focus… of course certain streets seem to hold his ghost… certain smells hold his scent… of course"

Xx~xx~xX

"What do you think they are doing?" Matthew asks.

"Looking for someone" Dominic sighed, closing his eyes and trying to banish the image of Leah's eyes catching every light from the realization that whoever they were looking for was in the city, and possibly the true female werewolf. He had never felt this way about someone, simultaneously irritated by them as he was fascinated… he analyzed the memories of the werewolf in him, those moments of violence and lashing out at the wolves.

Which one was she, he wondered. He wondered if he would be able to stop the beast the next time he transformed and the wolves were containing him-would he be able to put a leash on the beast and keep it away from her? Or would that glowing feeling inside him only make the beast hate her more, and instead lash out at her in particular…

"You like her" Matthew stated.

"I wonder how they are hoping on finding him" Dominic mused ignoring Matthew "Surely running in a city is not going to be easy… I mean, Leah is adaptable but… this is the city that never sleeps. Someone poor ordinary being is bound to be standing on some corner, in the wrong place at the wrong time… I am sure even Native American…"

"She said they were Quileute wolves" Matthew said absently, lost in his own thoughts-his mind returning to Annabelle.

"Quileute" Dominic breathed "Interesting sounding name… beautiful, much more endearing than _werewolf_. Well, I am sure they have laws too, on exposure…"

"Why do you think they need us?"

"The Art of War" Dominic murmured. "Understand your opponents weapon, that is the only way you can use it against him… isn't it?"

"You think we are weapons?" Matthew asked.

"The most pathetic weaponry ever issued to any rebel cause!" Dominic laughed and Matthew cringed away from the cold icy laughter "They are going to spend more of their time trying to keep us from running wild into the world. Controlling Werewolves… what bullshit."

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The bar was badly lit, every corner shrouded in darkness and were the light did spill out from various pendant lights hanging from the ceiling, it only filled a small radius in smoky hazes. It smelt like booze, it smelt like sin… it smelt like sex and corruption. They walked in slowly, she was in the lead-even in their human forms, it was evident who meant what to the pack. There was nothing strange about the men, to the patrons of Junkyard Pub-they had all sorts enter here. The place wasn't empty despite its stench and the worn contaminated furniture and décor that should by all accounts repel potential l customers. It was filled to the brim, the live band loud and untalented and the women scantily dressed and half to fully drunk or drugged.

"He is here…" Leah whispered, her nose scrunched up. There was another scent there too… but the sweating odorous bodies of the humans saturated everything and in her excitement and anxiety to find him, she put the smell aside-it was irrelevant to her cause. "Embry and Billy… left"

"Bradley and Collin… right" she instructed and they separated, weaving through the moving jostling bodies easily, pushing their ways through and bullying the space.

"I can't believe you Alpha'd me" Seth whispered to her, turning his head left and right, eyes narrowed and piercing through the opaque air.

"Me too" she whispered "Sorry bro"

"Yeah, just keep your lover boy from me… he gives me the creeps with those eyes" Seth muttered. "Hell, I prefer the yellow eyes he stares at me with when he is on all fours compared to those frozen blue ones…"

"Did you hear what he said?" she asked him "I mean… you know better than anyone one… but we spent an entire night keeping Matthew and Dominic under control… there is no room for trying to train them or anything… their like… rabid or something. Embry is the only one who is roughly their size-freaky skinny long things. And what more a full blooded wolf! Shit…!"

"I knew you thought they were freaky" Seth grinned "Coming at me like Mother Teresa of the Supernaturally Disfigured…"

"Seth" she stopped him, her hand barricading his path. He followed her gaze and saw only a line of men, hunched at the bar… obviously drinking their sorrows away. One of them, he realized, was Charles Black. They stood there for what felt like hours, the other wolves spotting them and understanding immediately-as only creature accustomed to working in a pack could understand, that they were to surround the bar and root out the exits.

And just like she had felt him, she thought, he would feel her certainly. And as she thought this and felt him, one man to the left… under a dark coat, turned slowly and met her eyes. Green and pale, eyes large even as they were narrowed in apparent anger and disbelief-those eyes met her from a face so gaunt she thought momentarily that he could be some unfortunate werewolf waiting grimly for a full moon.

"Argh" Charles spat.

"What" a clear voice murmured to Charles right "I suggest you not even think about backing out, boy…"

Charles rose from his seat stiffly, made two steps to his right and spotted Collin and Bradley standing a few feet apart in between chattering humans. He paused, frowning and looked back ahead to the main entrance and made out Embry's tall frame over the laughing swaying humans.

"What is your issue, boy!" the man rose from his seat, and went to stand next to Charles and it was then that the strange scent that was lost in the thick air of the pub was distinguished. Vampire…

"You said you were ready to leave" Charles said to the pale man "Well, let's leave…?"

"What are you talking about" the vampire frowned "You aren't backing out I hope… because as far as our deal goes, I get to break a few bones"

"Get me the fuck out of here and you and I have a deal!" Charles snarled and in one second, Leah's imprint was there in the pub with them and in the next, she made out the blurring motion of the vampire whisking Charles out..

"Out, now!" Leah roared.

Xx~xx~xX

The chase was short lived, for the vampire that is.

Charles managed to disappear just as easily as he had been found. His scent, so close to being human, merged easily with the thick cloud the moment the pack made it into the subway and from then, they were stuck following the vampire's stench through empty tunnels and abandoned tracks…

"Embry and Seth, would you do us the honors of being the big bad wolf to this marble red riding hood?" Leah breathed, and for the next fifteen minutes of their trekking, they were flanked by the two large wolves.

The darkness thickened, and the smell intensified and in a flash, the vampire revealed itself. A pale beautiful being with vines of dark hair and strange eyes, that Leah could tell were nearing the vampiric hunger in their darkness but in them, she saw purple… dark rich indigo.

"You lost your way there little lady?" he asked softly "You want to take your dogs for a walk in the grand park…"

"Where is Charles?" Leah sighed, her voice being lost in Embry and Seth's low growls, but the vampire heard her regardless-tensing slightly.

"How should I know!" he spat "He finds me…!

"Then your existence is pointless" Leah whispered, letting a tremor run through her and not caring for her clothes in her anger at her imprint and the vampire. The other wolves took their cue, Embry and Seth stopping the vampire from making an escape as it found itself in a torture of a thousand pieces, alone in the subway with the sound of its limbs serenading its true death.

When they were done, there was nothing to tell of the activity to the underground workers the next morning, save for chipped concrete and long jagged scratches and a smoldering pile of putrid sweetness in the middle of nowhere.

Xx~xx~xX

It was an all night affair, and as they didn't sleep between finding clothes for Leah-a much more intense task in comparison to finding a vampire, due to Embry fussing over her size while she wanted nothing more than to sniff her imprint out.

"He is up there" Leah cocked her head up at a crumby building, ignoring the stares of the rejects of the downtown-Embry had found nothing but a leotard for her to wear in the end… "You guys go out back, Collin you are in charge"

"Collin?" Bradley guffawed "But I am older…"

"BUtn ot wiser, now move your butt… you saw how fast the she-wolf's imprint is… kid ghosted outta that subway like mist"

"Embry and Seth, we'll get him out quietly… or contain him until he is to weak to fight as anymore" Leah said, and the three of the original Quileute pack went into the building, trying to move as slow and careful as they could "Seth, think about something random… think about Bethany or one of your… girls"

"Why?" Seth asked.

"Just do it" Leah sighed "He isn't a vampire… that one quick getaway he did in the subway probably weakened him. I am more than certain he hasn't had venom in a while, hence the dark eyed vampire… we should be able to get him out… but I cant risk him pushing some thought into your mind"

"Err, why does it seem there is a whole docate on Charles that I should know about?" Embry murmured.

"Because there is dude" Seth whispered "Now think about sex, sports and food"

"Was already there kid… all my life" Embry whispered.

Xx~xx~xX

"I should've known you wouldn't just settle down with Jacob" Charles chuckled morosely. He was standing by a window, half draped with a sheer tatty curtain. There was no light in the apartment, no furniture save for a moldy couch and what appeared to be a billion matchsticks-the remnants of a table.

"Settle down with Jacob?" Embry asked Leah, his eyes wide.

"He is a child… and he thinks like one too" Leah sighed, pulling up the sleeves of her leotard. "So, what have you been up to Charles? Making friends…? I am sorry about your purple eyed buddy… I sort of chewed on him by mistake"

"You…" Charles scowled violently at her, his thin face twisting impossibly against the barely there fullness in it. "Do you know how difficult it is to find a vampire in this place? They are very few and very well hidden…!"

"What was with the purple eyes?" Leah asked casually.

"My blood" Charles breathed. "He gave me venom… through my blood"

"Right, kid… I am almost tempted to switch prejudices right now…"Seth puckered his face.

"You don't look so good, Charles" Leah shook her head, taking a careful step forward. Charles looked down bellow him, frowning and then back at the three Shape-shifters.

"I'll jump" he said.

"You'll be hurt and you know it… you are running dry on vampire venom aren't you sweetie" Leah said, taking another step forward "You knew I was here, didn't you? You've been avoiding me… burning up whatever was in your system in the process"

"Leah… I'll jump" Charles repeated, his eyes large and Seth retracting his statement about Dominic's blue eyes being terrifying. There was no light in the room, but as a car drove by outside and its lights flashed through the curtain-Charles eyes shone an iridescent pearly grey with shocking green fire in them.

"You know… you are mostly right…" Charles chuckled "I have been… careless thanks to you. But that wasn't the only vampire I know… and I am not nearly as weak as you think, so to cut your efforts short… I do think I can jump out this window" he put his leg on the ledge and cocked half his body out "And here are our choices-watch me jump without the certainty that I will survive… or shall we have a tearing feast in this little box of an apartment?"

"I am going to drag your ass out of this city… by morning light. Go ahead, skip out… I am right on your tail kid"

"Hmm" Charles frowned and jumped, a yelp echoing from the outside from some unsuspecting human when he landed and the sound of Collin, Bradley and Billy following Charles in their human form. They left the apartment quickly, holding on to his scent and keeping a steady pace through the neighborhood. He was faster, but they weren't about to tire any time soon… they were formed from energy and life itself.

She found them in an abandoned warehouse, Collin had enough sense to phase in the darkness of the night and the emptiness of the area and Charles had by then, tired exponentially. They were surrounding him, growling and snarling and trying to avoid his quick swipes.

"Charles…Edward…Black" Leah shook her head "Enough already. Enough"

"No!" Charles hissed, catching Billy on the nose and sending the wolf stumbling into Collin. Leah could see his intention, he was working towards pushing the wolves to one side, creating a gap for him to zoom through… she could smell the water somewhere, they were by the docks. She rushed forward and collided with Charles, sending him reeling backwards while Embry already in wolf form, grabbed Charles shoulder and flung him in the air.

"Wear him out!" Leah breathed, stilling her trembling. She had to be human for this, she had to use her one thing over him-children, always thought they had some unknown experience over their adults…

He danced over the wolves, but they continuously pushed and shoved him back into the core of their centre, stalking him and snipping and snapping at him to keep him there.

"You don't know what you are doing… you don't want me, Leah!" Charles gasped, his eyes burning more than she had ever seen them and a thin sheen of sweat covering his skin, his face pasty under the shining sweat.

"Now, how would you know that?" Leah asked and Charles groaned standing straight and holding his fists by his temples strangely, his eyes closed. "Charles…?" Leah asked but she felt it soon, as she watched his form shaking and a single track of thick blackish blood ooze out of his nostril. _You are tired… you are weary, you are exhausted, you are sleepy…_

The thought pushed and tugged at her mind, Charles voice droning in her mind. "That didn't work on the bus station, it wont work now…"

"It wont work for you alone, Lee" Charles whispered, never removing his fists from his temple. She looked around her, and saw her brothers stumbling… Billy was on the ground, his tongue lolled out and eyes watching Charles lazily while Seth sat on his haunches and let out a billowing sigh. They were tired, they weren't going to fight…

"Well then, it seems I have to take charge of this situation once more…" Leah hissed and she jogged easily between the massive lazing fur lumps and collided with Charles, her speed and his shock torpedoing them into the warehouse, through the locked timber gate.

"Leah!" Charles growled by her ear "I don't want to fight…"

"You don't want to fight a girl?" Leah chuckled and she pushed him away from her.

"An old woman!" he snapped and he reversed her hold on his thin arms easily, surprising her with the strength in his frail arms and swung her with difficulty three turns, ramming her into a wall. She groaned and he huffed, struggling to keep her pinned to the wall. He leaned in, his head dipping in her neck and she felt his breath over her skin-cool and soft. "If I bite, I promise to kiss it better after…"

Leah growled, shuddering in his hold and glaring fearlessly into his sparkling eyes. She pushed him back three steps and he slammed her back against the wall, groaning on behalf her. She shoved again and he stumbled back four steps, another push and he was jogging backwards against her velocity and in one quick movement she spun him in the air easily and slammed him hard on to the cement floor, chipping it and bruising him. She pinned him down, straddling him with his arms grinding into the hard floor.

"If I bit you, boy" she whispered "I promise to make you scream at the top of your lungs that you are, in fact, my green eyes _bitch_"

"Ngh!" Charles groaned shuddering and writhing in her hold.

"Don't make you lead you out of this city by the short on curlies, Charles" Leah growled "You wont like it one bit!"

"Shoot, lead me by the short and curlies Leah, please!" Embry chuckled walking in while still pulling his shirt on.

"I'll scream for you Leah!" Collin cheered.

"I am already your little bitch!" Bradley sighed breathily "I can arrange some green contacts just for you She-Wolf!"

"Argh!" Seth spat "Could you cut the porno so we can get the fuck out of here, Leah. Before the next full moon and before your imprint does his mind tiring thing… If Billy hadn't phased out, we wouldn't have realized it wore of when we were in human form!"

Xx~xx~xX

"Drug him" Leah instructed and Seth's eyes widened. "Do it… drug him"

"Leah, this is your imprint…" Embry whispered, lifting Charles by his arms and chucking him on the couch "And Jake's kid…. And you know, my err… you know…"

"Let's not turn this into an episode of Oprah" Leah said stiffly "I know him"

"You don't know this version of me….!" Charles rasped, struggling against Embry's hold and kicking his legs out. "You don't know the thing I am…!"

"Kid, I went globe trekking on a booze binge" Leah whispered "And every time, your mother would come and find me on some decaying little corner of the world, and she would save me for that time and I would find another little hell hole to die and she would find me each and every time. It may be not be venom, but kid… my demons were rooted in my bones. This shit you think you are in, it's only skin deep…"

He stared at her in disbelief, his mind whirling-how was this the woman he had sent off on the bus station? For a moment, he thought with a drop of anger that he had been played very well-Leah Clearwater was incapable of being weak… but then, Bradley jammed his arm with a thick needle and he stared at the grinning Quileute in annoyance for a moment before his mind fogged over and he slumped on the seat.

"Who is this?" Dominic asked "A werewolf…"

"Something worse…" Billy whispered, shuddering at the memory of his limbs being arrested by an ancient fatigue.


	20. Scorching Souls

**SCORCHING SOULS**

.

"You really should try out for the football team" Caroline told Jacob, sliding her hand intentionally across the table towards Jacob's arm "I mean… you look like you are _already _in the team!" she giggled, her cooler hand going over Jacob's arm and squeezing. Jacob watched this all with amusement, not so much interest in the pretty blonde-but a fascination with being popular and _wanted._

He had never been _wanted…_ not like this, because when he had turned into a wolf it had been all about 'the pack and the tribe and secrecy and rage'. It had also been all about being in love with Isabella and hating Edward. There hadn't been any time for him to realize what it truly meant to be a walking perfect specimen of what a 'man's man' should look like, or to analyze how his wolf genes would be felt by human's around him when he wasn't radiating anger and violence.

Renesme was sitting in front of them, her hair still in that tight pony he had teased her about and her body covered profusely in layers of clothing. This was the one class were they didn't have Edward as a buffer-and this was also the one class were Jacob didn't understand why she had stuck it out to be near him-for surely she should be with Edward in advance mathematics, bored there?

He didn't want her here, watching him-because that was surely why she was here, in the one classroom were there weren't so many cheerleaders and he was able to enjoy the concentrated attentions of Caroline. He didn't think once that she watching him for any other purpose… than to make sure he remained as bored as she was and as strange as she was.

There were things he wanted to say and do with Caroline in that minute, that he was now restricted by Renesme's presence. He was glowering at the back of her perfect silly know-it-all sensitive bronze haired classically beautiful…

"I know right, she is such a loser!" Caroline whispered to him and he turned his head, never removing his frown that was now directed at Caroline. "I mean sure… a pretty loser…"

He wanted to say she was more than pretty, he wanted to say that he shared a child with this girl-no, woman, although he didn't remember the actual act of making said child. He wanted to say that in her twenty something years of existence, Renesme Carlie had probably seen and done things that were worthy of three lifetimes of counseling while he was stuck in his eternity with nothing but a grudge on a world and a clean slate when it came to being fucked up by Isabella.

"Hmm" he murmured instead, hating Renesme more for being in his classroom, hating that he now realized why she had stuck it out. She wasn't done worrying over Charles… and Jacob, knew that although Edward looked like Charles or was it the other way around, something about Jacob reminded Renesme distinctly of Charles. Or maybe, it was because he was the father of her son…

Whether he felt like Charles was his missing irritating little brother or not.

"So what do you say about football?" Caroline insisted.

"I say no, but I have no problem supporting them"

"Uh, you bore you!" Caroline smacked his hand playfully although Jacob felt slightly hollow inside, with a dash of misery.

"Exactly, I am a bore" Jacob grumbled, leaning back in his chair.

"You have English next?" Caroline tried after a minute of watching Jacob stare at the back of Carlie's head in a mixture of anxious frowning and irritation. "I think we are in the same class… we could sit together. That new English teacher is such a walk… over. Wait, she is your sister right?"

"Right" Jacob muttered, folding his hands over his chest.

"She is soft spoken, that was what I meant" Caroline chuckled nervously. "You two blood related?"

"Yes" Jacob lied fluidly. "And she practically raised me… and I am very, very protective of her and you, you've managed to offend me in ways I didn't think I could be offended by, Caroline. I think you shouldn't sit with me in English… it would be bad for you health right now"

The remainder of the class was shared in silence, Caroline hating Carlie more for her ostentatious beauty and the silent girl's indifference to it and to that beauties appeal to the school males, and more especially to what Caroline thought was Carlie Masen's beauty's appeal to Jacob Denver.

Xx~xx~xX

**ANGELA**

This was not weird one bit.

"If you would take out your books…" I said softly, staring at my own book as though my life depended on it. Sure, being a teacher to a bunch of hormonal kids that were large, thin, fat, dumb and stupid for the remainder of their last few years of teenage hood was terrifying… I had already been warned about the bad side of teaching individuals who knew their 'Rights' while on my tea break in the teacher's room.

And sure, that was part of the reason why I was conducting a lesson that would consist of allowing the students to read scenes from 'Twelfth Night', just so I could hide behind my book due to fear of these fully hormonal pre-adult seventeen to eighteen year olds…

I peeked up, just to make sure the class was full and I wouldn't need to send someone to the office to call out some random teenager who thought I was truly that soft that they could get away with ditching my class… and of course, the moment my eyes swerved up, they turned left and met Edward's dark gaze. They immediately fell back onto the worn page of my teacher's copy of Shakespeare.

"You all know that this is a short lesson…" I began and a 'duh' echoed from somewhere in the middle section, followed by Jacob's distinct low 'shut up' and Renesme's deep sigh of disdain (I was saddened that I recognized her sigh with its mixture of condescending, exasperation, displeasure and a general character of superiority). What was worse about picking out my 'kids' little efforts of support for me, was being able to single these efforts out easily from the chatter of the classroom. I certainly didn't have super hearing, but I had heard Jacob's 'shut up' and Renesme's sighing one too many times evidently.

"I was saying, err… lesson before lunch so we can read a bit of literature" I waved my book in the air indicatively, this time Edward was staring forlornly out the window, brow knit and lips a hard line. He seemed oblivious to the oddity that was his entire perimeter being surrounded by girls, who were so obviously not concentrating on my teaching… however dismal as it was of current… I had the good mind to drag him to the front the classroom if it meant they would at least bother to look in my general direction…

I had the good mind to do that, indeed. I was the teacher after all, and he was the student and he was being such a… _child _about Jonathan. Like he expected me to go and tell artsy Jonathan with his bad cloths and obvious aging face all about my adventures with immortals.

"Edward" I said-he had already seen where my thoughts were going, I was sure (what with his further glaring towards the outside world, like the garden just by his window was hurling cuss words at him or something). He turned his head stiffly, one shaped full eyebrow coking up petulantly. "Would you like to read for us?"

"Not particularly" the moment he spoke, the classroom went quiet, all eyes staring at him except for Jacob and Renesme. Jacob, was snickering in his corner while Renesme was turning her head around at him and shushing Jacob.

"Oh, please do" one girl behind Edward said breathily and Edward gave a miniscule cringe, rolling his eyes elegantly. It was so painful, the difference between vampires and humans, shape shifter and human, half vampire and human-it was all so painful standing in front of the class and seeing it.

We would never stand a chance… I thought. A strange thought as it was, it was mingled with my own imagination of some apocalyptic mishap that could fall over the world if the supernatural true leaders decided to reign terror over earth. Jacob was easily the tallest in the class, the most muscled and containing an animalistic aura that either put all the males in his near vicinity in a sense of respect and awe for him-how on earth he had befriended the whole football team was beside me and irritating to Renesme. And what that animalistic charm did to the girls, was obvious… I just hoped he was using protection or better yet, not doing anything at all.

As for Renesme, she seemed determined to balance out her' ten out of ten' look that reminded me of Rosalie, by dressing like I used to dress as a teenager and scowling more than she breathed.

"Edward…" I repeated and he glowered at me-something about his expression sent a thrill down my spine, and I could feel my eyes widen. There was nothing to fear, he was the student here and I was the teacher and detention must be a bitch for a telepath-to be stuck in a classroom filled with horny delinquents…

He got up then, sighing so loudly and melodiously before maneuvering from behind his adoring classmates and taking such a leisurely stroll up the short path towards the front. I quickly busied myself with moving my teacher's chair from behind my desk and placing it exactly in front of the class, standing beside it and waving a hand in a 'here is your seat, your highness' gesture. He glared at the seat, he frowned at me and took the book deliberately out of my hand-making sure to brush his frozen fingers over my skin tantalizingly slow (Edward was always careful not to touch me, Edward was all about control-this was, definitely, deliberate). He sat down with the same surliness, crossing his long legs sharply in front of him and said, in a low droning tone I supposed-that only sounded husky and tempting…

"…if music be the food of love, play on"

And as he said it, Jonathan entered the classroom to witness Edward and I's diplomatic squabble.

"You have to put a little more life into that, Edward!" Jonathan laughed, winking at me. I wished _Jonathan _was the telepath right about now, so I could push the single thought that his being here was counterproductive to my nonsensical spat with Edward and my determination to make this lesson at least half way educational with my rowdy distracted classroom-thanks to Edward, Renesme and Jacob pulling every human beings attention away from gaining knowledge.

"You included" Edward murmured, low enough so I was the only one who heard him.

"What?" I looked at the top of his head, perfect like everything else about him.

"Every human in the classroom is distracted, you included" he repeated slowly, turning his head deliberately so I had plenty of time to look away before I met his gaze… but I didn't, not just yet as I mulled his words over. And as I was staring into his dark eyes, and as soon as my poor human mind clicked on the meaning of his statement, he grinned…

Heart beat stuttered, eyes glazed over and a thick cloud fell over my mind. Jonathan was saying something, it was about the art part of this lesson or other… he had told me about it before… but Edward and I had fallen out of the classroom and into an alternate world were only he and I existed.

"Ms Denver, I can read if my brother isn't up to it?" Renesme had her hand up, although she had gotten up out of her seat too and her expression was drawn out into perfect innocence "He get's stage fright"

"No need to force him" Jonathan laughed nervously. "What with all the… err… staring…"

I stepped back, feeling faint and energized simultaneously and made an odd hand movement for Edward to leave the seat to his sister. He didn't look at me this time as he handed the book back to me without so much as a ruffle of air, he almost reappeared back in his seat and reestablished his staring out the window-this time without the glowering but a slightly spooked expression.

"Ms Denver" Renesme reached out for the book and held my hand as I passed it to her. _Could you not flirt with my seventeen year old father in a classroom filled with children?_

"Err, Jonathan" I released her hand and pointed to the door "Let's discuss it outside"

"Err, sure…" he walked back out and leaned against the wall as I closed the classroom door, Renesme's surprisingly impassioned telling of Duke Orsino's feelings for Olivia resounding in the classroom behind us.

"Yeah, you know what… I don't think I am up to decorating the class today" I laughed nervously "We have taken up a lot of time as it is getting them to settle down and then well… I had thought err, Edward would be a fast reader…"

"He is your nephew?" Jonathan asked, his expression strangely serious.

"Edward?" I tried to recall the story, and with the memory of Renesme's countless 'get the story right' expressions, it came to me "No, God Son"

"You are flustered" he pointed at my face and I touched my cheek, giggling nervously.

"All the… shouting and arguing… they have this weird assumption that they can walk right over me!"

"Yeah, kids can smell… fear" he said, some of his seriousness removed from his eyes. "I mean, Edward may just be taking advantage because you are his God Mother…"

I was aware my face had twisted at that 'God Mother' comment.

"…he'll deal with it" Jonathan shook his head, taking a step forward. "Good looking kid like him, soon enough he is going to get distracted and some of that energy will be subsidized elsewhere…"

He took another step and looked behind him nervously, smiling at me again "I am so glad you chose this school, Angela…"

"Me too" I squeaked.

He dipped his head and met my lips, the sound of the bell going off right then and a quick whoosh of the door shocking us apart. I looked behind me nervously, and made out Edward's quick 'human' step gliding along the still empty corridors before he turned right and disappeared.

"I… will see you in the… teachers room" I told Jonathan and he smiled, winking at me.

"See you, teacher" he chuckled.

"Bad Teacher" Jacob grinned, bustling out with his classmates. He waved a long finger at me and shook his head, amused. In a second, he was pulled by 'popular kids' along the corridor, laughing and carefree.

"I wish I could come and sit with you in the teacher's room with some _adults_" Renesme sighed, the last one out of the classroom.

"I am glad you can't" I retorted and she sulked away, a ghosting image of Edward.

Xx~xx~xX

"So... err, what was that about back at school?" Jacob asked, grinning at me and pushing his cleared dinner plate away from himself.

"What?" I was such a bad actress...

"Hmm, I think I will ask that question in five seconds..." Jacob grinned picking his plate and my own up and whistling all the way into the kitchen. In a minute, there was knock on the door-soft and short, before the door opened while I was in the midst of walking towards it.

Renesme walked in, nodded at me and immediately glided into the kitchen were Jacob's whistling immediately stopped and turned into huffing.

"Angela" Edward closed the door carefully behind him "I thought... actually, Renesme told me you were not home and I could come and tutor Jacob. His mathematics is atrocious"  
"I can go somewhere if you need me to be away to tutor Jacob" I said tetchily, unnecessarily-shocking myself and Edward with the pettiness.

He stared at me and I looked away cowardly, before huffing and braving it "What is the deal?" I muttered.

"With...?" he asked innocently.

"You know with what!" I snapped "With Jonathan!"

"Nothing" he lied "Why would you think there was a 'deal'? If you are having relationships with your colleagues not one month into staying in this town... why should there be a _deal_?"  
"Wait, I thought your problem was about my probably blabbing that I was currently enrolled at Hogwarts..." I said and he raised his eyebrow "But it's as petty as the time frame of Jonathan and me dating?"

"Petty?" Edward puckered, folding his arms over his chest "Petty... I am not _petty_!"  
"Mind his ego, it cuts!" Jacob boomed from the kitchen and Renesme snapped at him to be quiet.

"You sure, you are seeming pretty petty standing there, Petty Pretty" I folded my own arms and tried to hold his gaze, childishly removing my glasses and blurring my vision so his head turned into an ivory blob.

"Its concern Angela" Edward sighed taking a deliberate step forward so he was nearer, more visible and my blurring turned into squinting. "Stop that, your eyes are going cross eyed. If you can't stare me down... that's fine"

"I am not trying..."

"You are, and you can't possibly think I will abide by your rule of pretending I can't hear your thoughts when you are being so utterly absurd!"

"Argh!" I gave up and plopped down on the couch. "I am a grown woman, Edward and you are a child..."  
"Right" he sat down on the couch opposite me, in a pose that suggested slouching... "I am a century plus child"

"Well, to Carlisle you are" I smiled "And to me, you are that physically"

"I feel so much better about my immortality" he said stiffly.

"You don't get to judge me"  
"I wasn't judging you, I was just not cheering in your corner at how... reckless you are being"

"Reckless?" I frowned at him.

"Reckless" he repeated.

"So living with a shape shifter and hanging out with vampires is not reckless?" I asked and he remained silent. "Thank you for the... concern Edward, but I have actually had numerous relationships..."

"I apologize" he said softly, sitting up and holding my gaze-I wished he wouldn't do that, if he knew I couldn't look at him for more than three blinks. "I just... it was a shock when I returned and I saw how you looked..." he paused smiling a little "And that you were, as you said, normal..."  
"I never said that, I thought it and I would love for you to indulge me and not be a telepath when talking to me!" I sighed.

"It saddened me to realize so fully that you could never be normal with me" he said, pausing and shaking his head "You could never have normalcy with us. And as our immortality rolls out before us... I realize it is unfair of us to insist you invest your temporary time in it. We have Charles to worry about, we have Isabella too... and you, Angela... don't. Not anymore..."  
"What are you saying to me?!" I rasped.

"Jonathan... there is your freedom from _our _curse. The perfect ordinariness and safety you could have in him... what a full life"

"Edward?"

"Angela... it's a suggestion, it's an offer, it's _your_ freedom" he smiled "You could rebuke it and I would not lie to you-a part of me, a _great_ part of me would be happy if you did. But true joy would be in knowing you got to decorate the classroom, you went on more dates with Jonathan I suppose... and one day, you felt the joy I felt when I had Renesme"

"Joy and pain, you mean…" I managed, laughing stiffly.

"I wouldn't change it for the world" he said "Joy and pain, have made me stronger… as they have made you stronger too"

Demons, that was what I had thought they were for so long. The darkest side of evil, the walking wickedness but when I met them-truly met the Cullen's, I realized that there was no one purity-no true goodness or true evil but the simple grayness that came with any being that was once human.

How else could I say it, there was the good, the back and the ugly in all of us-in every soul, and as I looked into Edward's dark eyes and past the fear I had of him that was admittedly from an relentless magnetism that made my every nerve attuned to him-I could see his soul. There was nothing about that I could say had changed; I wouldn't think it was coated in venom because there were some things that not one antidote, poison or physical substance could touch. And that was a soul...

A spirit... life force... his was eternal, as they all were but it was still the same soul and spirit from his seventeen year old human self. His soul was still human, inside that vampiric body-the same light and fire, as my own.

"We have found him, found Charles" Edward told her slowly, a sad smile on his lips. He sighed, murmuring something to himself before looking up at me once more. "He sent me a telepathic call, it took all his energy I think… but I have reason to believe he is with Leah"

"Wouldn't Jacob know?" I asked Edward, my insides were shaking and mind struggling to keep up with his words and the emotions they swirled inside me. I was aware that my half smile was still lingering on m y lips uselessly but I was afraid of twitching even a single muscle-it felt like I was about to come unraveling on the couch.

"I had thought we had a day or so" Edward sighed, looking back at the kitchen were I was sure Renesme was repeating the information to Jacob. "I was as overwhelmed as you are now when he pushed the image into my mind… it was a call for help I suppose, but this is how I believe he is with Leah. He wanted help to be away from Leah…"  
"Help to be away from Leah?But weren't Charles and Leah all about… Charles and Leah?"  
"Precisely" Edward breathed "I should have known if there was one person to ever find Charles, it would be Leah Clearwater-imprint or not"

"Of course" I whispered, remembering the imprint that Jacob had for Renesme, the one Renesme had shown me… that strange overpowering purity of love. "Imprint"

"I think he was at his most desperate… hoping I would be irrational and skip to him, vampire grandfather who had tasted his blood… the worst sort of cavalry" Edward murmured shaking his head despondently. He raised his eyes, dark as they were… filled with shadows and a soft hunger "I haven't had to hunt or feed since… since I had his blood in me. It is that potent… and the infinite possibilities it has in a vampire, Angela… to think that he had been giving this away randomly to vampire vagrants somewhere..."

I didn't know what to say to that, I had not known Charles like I had grown to know and love Jacob, like I had grown to respect and care for Renesme in all her oddness and eccentricities. Charles, for me, was the Cullen 'problem child'. Worse than Isabella because his troubles were not selfish, they were selfless and in them-they pulled in all the love of his family unit whether he was aware of it or not because they could tell that around all that darkness and shadows, lurked light so bright it could blind…

Like Edward's eyes, dark as they were and hungry, I knew the light beneath those shadows could scorch souls into reverence… I was blushing, he was pretending not notice or care for my thoughts.

"I should have guessed Renesme would want to leave as soon as possible" Edward sighed. "She has been practicing shielding her thoughts once more, she would do it as a child"

"I think they are heading to the Farm House, I suppose I should alert Carlisle that we are going to be on the move" Edward sighed, taking his phone out "Renesme…"

"Papa" she came out immediately, although Edward had only stated her name.

"I think… we are saying goodbye" Edward said looking up at her, unable to look back at me.

"Goodbye?"I rose from the couch, feeling nauseous and weak. Jacob stood behind Renesme, their heights complementing each other in a way that no other woman would be able to 'normalize' Jacob's height. He looked at me gravely and when I was so obviously close to tears with understanding how many goodbye's I was expected to make so suddenly, he tried to bring his sunshine smile on his face.

"You too, Jake?" I whispered and he nodded grimly. "Of course" I mumbled.

"I would come back…!" he began and Renesme shook her head once, her hand touching his briefly. "But I cant…" Jacob finished in a whisper, looking away from me. "We cant ever come back to you, Angela"

"Edward…?"I was refusing to understand the situation, dragging out the suddenness of my misery and he was obliging me, his own expression mirroring my heartbreak. But what he was promising, the gift of his words was that this would be my last heartbreak-I would never see them again, I would never hear of them… I would, be normal in my temporary life and only committed to joy and not the strenuous task of existing beside the immortals.

"It has come to this, I am afraid" he whispered and Renesme and Jacob moved from the dining space to further up, near the door. "Charles was indeed in the city, and we have hope they are heading to the farmhouse, and to catch them we have to leave immediately… like I said, I wish I had more time"

"I don't want to… never have to see you again" a tear fell, rolling down my left cheek and he watched it gloomily before appearing before me. I heard the door open, Jacob and Renesme stepping out. He touched my cheek, capturing the liquid diamond and lifting it to the light.

"The darkness cannot exist with the light"  
"And yet neither can be with out the other… how would we tell the light for what it was if we did not know of the dark?" I whispered.

"I never believed I had a soul" Edward smiled rubbing the tear between his fingers as though he was trying to let the moisture seep into his skin and become a part of him. "You say it's like shadows, Angela…"

"I thought it I didn't say it" I was going for snappy and short, but my blubbery turned it into a whine.

"…shadows wrapped around the light, wound tight and heavily… unlike human's who have just that one equal coating of grey. My soul is human and hidden beneath a thousand layers of blood, hunger, violence and… lust and jealousy, magnified by venom" Edward said, closing his eyes "A trick from the devil to make me believe I was soulless and thus, inherently evil and thus, evil will do what evil does, no?"

"I suppose…"

"Then forgive me, Angela, for this one last evil… for even as a human, I was _selfish_" he whispered, taking a step forward "I wanted things that were not mine, and I want you… so much, but you are not mine. You are this world's… this era's Angela, and you are right, you have no use for an immortal child. No use indeed…"

He kissed my forehead like he had done before-when I thought of him only in context with Isabella, his cold lips shocking me into an awakening, a rebirth of my soul. I touched the hand he held my head steadily with and tugged it down. He allowed the motion, watching me curiously and fervently as I brought his palm to my mouth and kissed it, kissing the curve of his thumb and the coldness of the back of his hand before letting the hand fall altogether and leaping up into his arms…

And kissing his mouth, willing him to believe with _conviction _that his soul was inside him and my soul was speaking to it, singing to it through out connected mouths. It was like bringing to life an ice sculpture and tasting saccharine bliss but as he placed me back down carefully, and murmured so low and huskily;

"Thank you Angela…"

And as I opened my eyes and saw that I was truly alone, my world exploded to irrecoverable pieces, flaming over my humanity with all their immortally repenting good intentions but what was left of me could do nothing but lay ablaze in my new hell of the prospect of scorching _normalcy_.

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**I thought this would be an interesting bit of information for some reason… err, well. I was listening to Rihanna's Diamond song, and it inspired this chapter and the next chapter (that is maybe a quarter done).**

**It initially wasn't supposed to end this way, but I was working on it with that song stuck in my mind, and I had this image of two bright stars so close to each other… and how souls are like diamonds or stars, so for a vampire soul to resurface it would have to '…shine bright like a diamond…' or in this case, brighter…**

**Err, well, my bit of silliness.**

**Xx**

**tj**


	21. Scorching Souls 2

**SCORCHING SOULS**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**LEAH CLEARWATER**

The travel back south to the little pathetic town was grueling. Between caring for the shivering ill-prone werewolves and handling Charles withdrawal, the pack was strained. I was strained…

I suppose I seemed like the cruelest being to them, what imprinter gives instruction for her imprint to be drugged? But now that the drugs were out, and now that Charles was lucid enough to continue weakening himself by terrorizing the minds of the wolves-Embry had at least, managed a semi mental block, which meant that as I drove over the speed limit back to Edward and Jacob, praying they were all still there with Renesme… the Jeep only had Embry and a shaking sweating Charles in the backseat, bound and uncomfortable and Dominic, glowering out the window beside the long thin hybrid.

"Who is he?" this was as straight forward a question Dominic was willing to give me, I could see him in the rearview mirror casting Charles a look of deep disdain.

"Our… former leader's child" I said.

"So he is a wolf too?" Dominic asked.

"Yes" I sighed "And no. You'll figure it out; you will figure it all out once we get to the farm; what you hunger for, what Charles is… the way our supernatural genes work… don't worry about it. It's kind of like you are in the pack too"  
"You and I both know that isn't true, and I am sure Seth would agree with me there fully" Dominic sneered. "But a farm is a much safer place to be, when the moon shows its face…"  
"A drop…!" Charles rasped.

"Not a drop, Charles" I sighed "Not from my blood, not from anyone…"

"Blood" Dominic said the word in an odd popping sound. "Shapeshifter… can you change into any animal you want?"

"No" I said.

"Not that we know off…" Embry added, staring out the window. Was he thinking about his moment of finally acknowledging Charles as his nephew… admitting to himself that he was indeed Jacob's brother? Maybe if he had not managed to push Charles half way out of his mind, he could hold on to a glimmer of hope that his father was an Uley… but didn't this make it all the more better? That as he was a wolf, that as he was incapable of stopping his phasing as yet, he had family… actual _blood _family here with him to understand him and love him. "Why are you all of the sudden so chatty…?" Embry asked Dominic, turning his head to frown at the occupants of the backseat, his expression unfamiliarly solemn-the old Embry, the younger introvert Embry with long hair and bad skin.

"I have a fever" Dominic said "Sweats… me and Charles have a lot in common right now"

"Charles is going through withdrawals, not Werewolf pre-moon shakes" Embry said, I was unsure if he was going for scathing or factual.

"Just… I need to keep my mind focused, talking to people helps to turn a little later…" Dominic was rambling.

"What do you mean, turn a little later?" I said, frowning.

"Moon" Dominic breathed "I can feel it…"

"There is no way you can feel it tonight, moon is out in two days time!" Embry looked at me, fear on his face.

"Not since we have been travelling towards it…" I whispered, seeing the billboard of the little town, its promise for 'a welcomed stay' and the memory of Charles in Angela's little apartment erupting in my mind. I looked in the review mirror once more, this time making sure that Seth was staying close to me…

His headlights were a little far off. He wouldn't know how to get to the farm if I just sped away from him… but at least there were four wolves with him. It was just Embry and I here to take care of Dominic, and then we would have to worry that Charles doesn't get swiped by the werewolf's fits of teeth and claws.

We drove into the dust road in nothing but a commotion of dirt and brakes, Dominic moaning and groaning while Charles stared on in fear… finally understanding that there was a curse much worse than his unique DNA, I prayed.

"Get away…. Get him away!" Charles rasped, kicking Dominic viciously. Dominic was oblivious to the attacks, clutching his middle and moaning softly… Embry was out in a flash, pulling the door open and dragging Dominic out.

"Get in the barn, now!" he ordered Dominic. I looked to the house, the lights were on… as far as I knew, Jacob spent most of his time with Angela while Edward and Renesme commiserated exclusively together… Nessie never left any lights on save for the attic, but of course they would have heard us pulling in to the multi-hectare property.

There was no time to wonder, Dominic was already bruising all over, half way to his crawling towards the barn he was now thrashing on the ground. Embry tossed a bound Charles casually my way and ran after Dominic, scooping him up and trying to contain him in his arms while skipping over the terrain to the barn.

"Charles, please could you pretend in this one moment that we were back in that crappy Texas house and I was your aunt, and you were just the kid getting bullied and had gardening to look forward to after school, while getting bossed by me?" I said quickly, shaking Charles "Because buddy, as freaky as you think you are… as freaky as you thought you were back then when the strangest thing about you was your tan, red hair, green eyes and asthma… this shit, that is going on in the barn…" Dominic let out a half groan-howl in the barn, Embry crying out for me-as though they were in on my speech to Charles

"That, is freaky by nature" I whispered to him "Stay put, stay fucking put… don't you dare let this mysterious 'darker side' of you talk you into running off somewhere. You stay here and you sit tight!"

I released him and he stumbled back, falling on his bottom and I could feel him watching me as I skipped over the ground, flinging the shirt to the side and gliding through the air as a wolf before falling heavily on my paws. It was going to be a long wait, of watching and anticipating Dominic's transformation. Behind me, I could hear Seth pulling the car nervously in, no doubt Matthew had suddenly developed a twitching problem between Collin and Billy too.

Embry was pacing in front of a cornered sobbing Dominic, his fur on end and thick around his neck-courtesy of having a beard, I supposed. The barn was… tidied, a tractor in the corner, a cart filled with hay at one side and tools and farming equipment neatly organized. I stuttered in my step, left front paw hanging unsure over the ground. Something wasn't right… or maybe, everything was finally completely okay. Maybe Edward had stopped feeling the pain of his injuries, maybe Renesme had fallen truly in love with the idea of being a Bed Ford wife and extended it to a role as Martha Kent, maybe Jacob was in school here and running back home to work in the fields everyday…

_Who the fuck are you kidding…_? Embry chortled morosely, falling on his stomach theatrically when it was obvious that we would be watching Dominic for a good few hours before the werewolf made an appearance. As the moon days pulled out, the transformations would get more violent and for a longer period of time… but the first day, was the worst because although the werewolf wasn't out for long, it was a lot more aggravated-the hunger, I supposed, would be at its core.

In a second, Seth came in dragging Matthew through the dirt coldly by his twiggy bone ankle, Seth's face contorted in utter rage and indignation. Behind him, Collin and Bradley were at their soberest , tossing their shirts off silently-they had learnt, that werewolves no matter how frail… could sap the life and joy out of those who were tending to them. And it was a lesson I was glad they had, for this introduction into werewolves would save them… in a world were other supernatural creatures formed their own communities and armies with little detection… but a thick file worth of bad intentions.

"Two days…?" was all Seth could manage in his anger, tossing Matthew viciously into the corner were Dominic was cowering and trembling in. "Two fucking days… I thought I could get my mind around it, you know… work myself towards baby sitting rabid coyotes…"

_Does he want me to do sign language or something…?_ I grumbled and Embry let out a hot billow of air through his nose that lifted dust up and covered Matthew and Dominic.

"Argh!" Seth hissed , removing his clothes in a grand show of frustration before stepping into the wolf with little grace and a ton of annoyance. _Charles and his mind raping…_

_Firstly, mind your language kid… I am the only one allowed to discipline that boy… _I growled at Seth, lips pulled over my teeth. _And secondly, only Edward mind rapes…and only I get to use that nickname. Trademarked and all. Now sit tight, stop being a little bitch about your fear of werewolves… we already established that neither Matthew nor Dominic is as mangy and wild as those things you got yourself whopped by in South America._

_Hmm._ Seth's embarrassment and further irritation at Matthew and Dominic wafted off of his sandy fur in a tidal wave.

We formed a tight half arch around them, while Charles low grumbling and sighing mingled with the wind outside, the moon a fraction formed over this world.

Xx~xx~xX

It's easier to believe the evil in others than it is to believe in their good, because such ethereal purity is only for the divine and we were all but stumbling damned souls. Were we not born into evil? And what a strange thing it was, to believe that souls were more prone to evil than good, and yet a billion and more people believed in the existence of God and not the Devil?

We are all Evil, God Exists and there is no Devil? The riddle of all times...

And as I watched them die and burn in their curse, bones cracking, skin bruising to black and spines elongating and tearing away at skin and muscle... it came to me. God created man in his own image, and man is both evil and goodness... then what's to say that God was not both evil and goodness at that point? What's to say that God, upon creating man and realizing that his creation had darkness in it as well as light, remembering how he had meticulously constructed said Adam to be his representation on earth-God realized then, that he had darkness inside him...

And God is light, God is purity... God knows if he is to be a God, a true _powerful_ God... he can't ever have darkness. So he created man, with some of that light and darkness... and then he created other creatures to be rid of his own darkness. _Other_ malformed creatures filled with God's darkness...

Walking this earth, bitter and jealous of men and growing dissension amongst themselves with the single purpose of revenge on a Father so cruel as to show such damning favoritism.

The werewolves are seconds from turning this into an all-nighter, and behind me I can hear the yell of a man-a human man-about trespassing and the such, and it all makes sense so suddenly. They left; Edward, Angela, Renesme and Jacob, and this farm... is truly just an ordinary farm with a farmer and his wife and regular son who shovels hay...

_Dominic!_ Embry hissed and the black werewolf rose shakily to its feet, sniffing the air before turning its massive long ugly head towards us with an odium glare. Beside it, the smaller still shuddering werewolf began to emit low cold growls of violence.

There was nothing to be done, but hope that Farmer Brown upon seeing pure darkness... would skip back into his house with his useless gun and huddle with wife and son under his bed.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CHARLES BLACK**

It was only a slither, a fleck in the sky. Cold ice looming in the sea of the night, clouds veiling and unveiling it, and yet… the power it held over these lesser creatures, these fearsome beasts… these… these… _true_ demons.

I could see them easily through from the side of the barn through the thin spacing of the timbre paneling. Each nervous tremble the wolves made, circling and pushing the werewolves back… I could see them. Black mangy creatures, skin leathery and barely furred with abnormal ridges working over the thick membrane. And those eyes… heavens, those eyes…

"Boy!"

I wheeled around stumbling a little and struggling to right my stance, hands bound behind my back as they were. The old man held the shotgun up at me, beside him a dog whimpered and struggled against the chain he held firmly in one hand-the dog, wanted nothing to do with these scene, its eyes wide and fearful darting from the barn to the far freedom in the dark horizon of the cursed farm.

"You are trespassing son…" he breathed, the wind whipping around us in tune with the growls and snarls from the barn. He looked at me, peering with great difficulty through the night and scowled at the barn. "Son?"

"You should go back to the house" I told him dryly. "Heavens, I am about to leave this place myself…"

I looked back at the barn once more; a flash of grey, maybe Leah darting and weaving to subdue the two beasts. I am already moving over the land, calm and thirsty-happily aware that the pack will not be after me even after they realize I am gone. They have their hands full, between the two werewolves and the added problem of a human inching closer to the barn, dragging an unwilling terrified mutt behind him… I would be free.

I am back to square one of course, the thirst and hunger but this time… something has changed. Call it a conscious, a voice, a nagging… a _Leah._ My heart squeezes relentlessly with each step I take; each gentle stumble and sigh-it wants to remain with her. I am tempted to just rip the thing out and toss it at her feet, "There Leah" I would say "I have no need for this… it renders me, it weakens me… it binds me to you"

Take it, Leah. Take it all. We aren't in Texas and you and I both know we should have never have left that bland reality for this living nightmare. We should have let the Volturi do as they may, we should have grown up with you as my aunt and I as your asthmatic nephew and the imprint just a word to describe engraving or indentation… nothing about souls and wolves. Jacob Black would be my drunken desolate father, Renesme would be in South America abused and vaguely in love with Nahuel and Edward Cullen would be placed in one of Carlisle's storages in some hidden place, never moving and always sorrowing for Isabella…

"Rwaoor!" the sound cuts through my breathing, my musing and my idea of a fucked up utopia, and I freeze. The air, as far away as I am from the barn, swirls violently and the sound of desperate snarls and growls terrifies me into hyperventilating. As I turn around slowly, as I stand with eyes wide and somehow besides my lack of supernatural efficiency at the moment-these eyes of mine swallow more light and throw it out so everything is one vividness of bright night; I see the poor Old Man standing momentarily bemused as a black giant furless rat-like thing squeezes through a hole in the side of the barn, growling and snarling.

Everything is suddenly boosted, audio and visual and my heart is pumping too fast. It has been long since my adrenaline has been shocked into life like this, since my body has been woken from its lethargic slumber due to piling it with more concentrated venom… my venom, I had thought, was no longer sufficient for anything. How wrong I was, witnessing the Old Man struggling with his shot gun-that had been unloaded it seems, for he was now pushing cartridges in it realizing that he may have to fire the thing. He raised the gun, the Werewolf was out and further away I saw the kitchen door open and two female figures step out in terror.

There was no way they could distinguish the shadows by the barn as nothing more than giant darkness.

Two shots fired, gun cocked quickly and the werewolf momentarily staggered in surprise. Inside the barn, wolves ere growling anxiously and Embry skipped out of the hole the werewolf had made and immediately attacked the beast-but the Old Man couldn't understand what was happening before his eyes and with his raised gun, he fires at Embry and sends him stumbling off of the werewolf. The werewolf rose easily from the ground, shaking of bullets that I was sure had failed to penetrate that leathery skin, probably stinging like a paintball bullet instead.

"Daddy!" one of the women moaned, struggling against what could only be her mother. The Old Man cocked his gun again and blindly fired shots through the hole in the side of the barn-orange white lights popping with each bang. He couldn't see the stalking werewolf, he was more interested in the deliberate movements of Embry and the yelps in the barn and by the time he realizes that the darkness inching near him isn't the shadow of nature but of hell… he is run over by the werewolf.

"Shit" I breathed, as one last shot fired away into the night followed by a soft whimper, a pained moan and the squelch of pliable flesh. I hopped and skipped out of my frozen terror, aware that I was running to what could be my own death in these bound hands…

Bound…? The ropes are easily broken with one twitch of my wrist and my feet move faster over the ground, and with that velocity, I smack into the side of the werewolf and he growled in surprise, stepping from the Old Man. It's too late, there is no heart beat from the corpse… but if it were about heart beats, there are two in the distant thrashing violently from fear. The dark beast ignored me and ran up to the house; Embry who had been knocked to the side of the house hard recovers from his minute of disorientation and pain, which had cost the Old Man his life. We rushed forward, Embry colliding with the werewolf, which only growled in irritation and shook him off easily before swinging an odd arm-like paw at me and sending me flying through the air, back towards the barn and through the barn roof.

I fell heavily on top of something, it was a wolf not a werewolf… the fur similar to Embry's but Embry was outside. The wolf tossed me off of him irritated. Blood was all over the place, fur tufts-not werewolf fur; they didn't have fur, only stray strands of thick long hair.

The wolves ignore me, rushing out to the escaping werewolves-that were fighting each other, as well as the wolves while rushing towards the house to the easily distinguishable prey-like human females.

"They killed a man…!" I yelled into the night, useless bit of information as it was. I rushed after the roundabout tornado of the pack trying to rein the werewolves in.

"Daddy!" that girl was still struggling, still screaming and moving her and her mother closer to such perilous danger. I needed to get to them, let the wolves deal with the werewolves…

"Stop!" I moved towards them in a burst of energy that left me drained, I could feel my heart shuddering. I tried to hold the girl but she scratched at my face, and between my coughing and paining heart-so abused as it was with the venom of vampires, it couldn't function properly on my own venom any longer. Her mother joined in on the fight; hitting and kicking me and concentrating her attentions on the 'stranger' trying to 'hold' her child down… but now the girl was free and running towards the circle of teeth, claws and violence.

"Your daughter is about to die!" I hissed at her, pushing her away from me. She gave me one blank look before her features rearranged themselves into something desperate. She whipped around and ran after her daughter, but it was… like it had been for the old man, close to too late. She had gone unnoticed just a few feet into the bustling fighting wolves and was now knocked over, close to being trampled and one of the werewolves was sniffing the air deliberately.

The werewolf gave a violent nudge against one wolf and extended a long half claw-half hand like paw out that reached her and scraped over her body, pulled her to it and it lowered its head momentarily over her before it could be stopped. Her blood was in the air, her slowing heart a background melody to the violence.

"Katherine!" the Old Man's widow cried and rushed to her daughter between the masses of muscles and teeth, managing to push a moaning Katherine only a few feet from the tornado before looking up at me deliberately, through a darkness she wouldn't be able to see through… save, for two iridescent eyes I was sure I was sporting. "Help her!?"

I got up shakily, my hand clutching my chest and swallowed the pain. I rushed to her, the moment I reached them I coughed out blood and then all hell broke loose. The bleeding girl's blood had only excited the werewolves but my one cough of only a few drops of blood sent them into a frenzy…

"Get her away!" she looked at me desperately, her hand going over mine. I picked her daughter up and rushed to the house, behind me the blood curdling scream of the Old Man's wife assured me that I was carrying a dying orphan.

Xx~xx~xX

"Ngh…" Katherine groaned, twitching, her face pale and covered in bruises, scratches and plump swells of purpling flesh. Her hand was hanging strangely, draped over the couch and her nightdress had only a square inch of a white patch that alerted me that its crimson color was an impostor.

"I don't know what to do!" I hissed, touching her middle tentatively where three deeper crimson stains were blooming through the sheer gown. Those three stains were sticky and black in the middle, claw marks through her nightdress. Her one eye rolled back into her head, her lips were crooked and twisted into a something fleshy and raw, her face was vaguely distinguishable as female and human with the twists and bruises, the one side gauged.

She was bleeding to death, she was going to be disfigured whether in surviving or in her casket but that wasn't the problem area to my sense of horror… the problem area was the piece of flesh missing from her calf because it was so profusely visible, so horribly disfigured and traumatizing that if I had ever thought that the true horrors could only be seen in the supernatural…

I had about a thousand scenarios of shark bites and lion maulings to consider in that flash. She looked like she had been half devoured by a pride of lions on some safari… attacked by sharks while snorkeling…

"Nghhhhh!" she twitched and I could hear her heart stuttering to an odd fast tempo before slowing, skipping and thrashing pathetically in her. Behind us, the wolves could subdue the werewolves more effectively now that there weren't any human distractions… for in trying to contain the werewolves and steer them away from harming the humans, they failed to do just _that_.

"I don't know what to do…" I insisted, holding her trembling hand. "I don't know…"

I could turn her. Wasn't that how many of the Cullen's were turned? But my venom wasn't as potent as any vampires, it's very content not even true vampire venom but something that rendered nerves momentarily paralyzed, like with Nahuel…

But my blood, I had seen how Harold the City Vampire's eyes had turned purple, how his skin had cleared of all his 'war wounds' from days of 'vampire territory squabbles'. But she was human; I could end up killing her more than anything…

She was dying as it was… there was no harm in trying both routes.

I brought her wrist up to my mouth and bit once, sucking hard and gulping her blood before licking the wound. She didn't respond to that pain, her body had more important worries… I bit my own wrist and brought the oozing too dark blood to her mouth, forcing her swollen ripped lips open and pressing the wound by mouth.

She groaned, and shuddered in my hold, her blood covering me but in a minute, I was sure she had ingested something adequate.

I fell back to the ground, and watched her bleed and die, the howls and snarls outside dying down as the sun came up.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**LEAH CLEARWATER**

There are things that we cannot ignore.

But human deaths, wasn't one of those things.

This was sick on so many levels...

"Dig deeper..."

This was, not what it meant to be a Quileute wolf, this was not what it meant to be a protector but it was everything, every comprehension and understanding to what it meant to be a part of the supernatural world. There are things we cannot ignore in our world, in our supernatural world, and human beings were not one of those things. Natural things were not one of those things; deaths and life, ignorable instances in our never ending timeline-but a mixture of both-something abominable and illogical, then you had our full attention.

Like Katherine, you had our full attention if you should have been dead or alive by any natural occurrence but you were in limbo instead-officially a part of our fucked up world.

"Embry, fucking put your back into it!" I hissed and he paused his shoveling, his eyes swerving up at me and breath coming out in huffs, skin tinted with patches of dirt and sweat-sweat, not from the exertion, that was child's play for a wolf-but sweat from the continuous effort he had found himself applying to our surroundings while every other wolf held a stare down with the unconscious naked currently _harmless _Matthew and Dominic.

"You want to try, Leah?" he asked me, lifting the shovel up and scowling at me "You want to dig a grave too? You think you can stand in this shit, knowing you were the reason..."  
"It was Dominic not you" I whispered.

"I hesitated, I was disorientated..."  
"You were one wolf, you were alone out there and you were worrying about my imprint standing in the distance and those two women..." I sighed, jumping into the relatively deep grave and nudging him to the side, forcing him to make room for me. "Hand me the shovel"  
"No" he casually tossed the shovel into his other hand, his face somber and beard... he was going to have to shave that stupid thing. "We killed people, Leah"

"_They_ killed people, the beasts not us or Matthew and Dominic, it was the _beasts._" I whispered.

"They are dead" Embry continued, flicking his eyes over to the bundled bodies lying motionless on the ground. "She is... more likely going to be a werewolf too. Worse than dead after what I saw, that was the worst... I mean, I knew back then in Malwood how bad werewolves got but to see that..."

"We saved one life" I said, trying not to be drowned into Embry's natural affinity to weigh every sorrow of the world on his shoulders-brought about from a lifetime of being his mother's son.

"Charles saved her" Embry snorted hard. "She could wake up a vampire or a werewolf... we saved her from heaven and gave her sanctuary in fucking hell"  
"She won't be a vampire... Charles venom is unique; Carlisle said he had a one in a billion chance of turning any human"  
"Over six billion people in the world..." Embry looked up, sighing wearily "So he has about six people in the world to turn into freaks like us. Well, at least he has willingly allowed himself to be rehabilitated supernatural style-chains and all"

"He was going to leave" I said, staring back at the house, up at the attic were Edward once found himself limited to. "He was going to run away, and there would have been nothing I could do to make him stay..."  
"You gave him the wrong speech" Embry sighed, placing the shovel on the ground above us and hoisting himself out of the grave. He extended his hand out to me, and I momentarily thought of ignoring it-like hell I couldn't hoist myself out-but I was playing nice, so I let him pull me out. He picked up Mr Farmer and placed him as carefully as he could in the grave before moving over to the second grave and lowering his relatively younger wife.

"What do you mean I gave him the wrong speech?" I asked him watching as he shoveled the dirt mounds back over the graves.

"You were talking to him about someone that died, a human Charles. An _irrelevant_ Charles" he sighed, flicking dirt easily and emotionlessly over the bodies. "You can never go back to that time, you can never be his aunt and there can never be a boring house in Texas"  
"I only said that because it is my safe haven, from _everything_; that memory" I said, watching as the bodies disappeared under the earth. "I thought it would be his too"

"Leah, you aren't his aunt and he isn't your nephew" Embry stopped, chucking the shovel disdainfully up to the side. "No one memory will ever be your safe haven"  
"So what are you saying, I should just live without any hope or even a sense of rescue to said hope?" I scowled at him "I should just tell him that it's all fucked up and there is no where we can go for it to ever be safe again?"  
"I just said that that memory isn't your safe haven" he looked at me, his large eyes staring into mine and face flushed-such was the life of not being fully Quileute, his cheeks and neck were a deeper russet and eyes weren't the typical dark brown but something flecked and hazel like. "I didn't say you two didn't have a safe haven"  
"Okay, Dr Phil, what's our safe haven?"

"Each other"  
"No shit, Sherlock"

"No, you don't get it!" he sighed "Each other, none of that 'oh, aunty' bull shit. Untitled... Leah, you have to let it be untitled. You keep sticking a label to it, reminding him he is a 'kid' and such... and you know what he is doing?"  
"What?"  
"Showing you he isn't a kid"

Should I tell him I kissed said kid at a bus station? But that was different, that was... me trying to establish the upper hand. And I supposed what Embry was pointing out was that I was terrified of letting the titles go, letting them fall away because I had always been the Alpha between Charles and I (fuck that bullshit about equality and the such which Charles and I loved to dish out to each other-this was a power struggle and I had been the Alpha and being Alpha keeps you _safe_).

"I don't treat him like a kid" I said and Embry raised an eyebrow "Okay, not all the time. Like... err, at the warehouse..."  
"You treated him like your little _bitch_" he grinned "You said so yourself... you know what I think, you are going to get a rude awakening when he flips the tables and let's you play your natural role..."  
"You calling me a bitch?"  
"Err, female wolf?" he grinned backing away from me.

"Female wolf, not dog" I sulked, staring at the fresh graves with a mixture of regret, fear and anxiety. The moment Katherine awoke, the moment Dominic and Matthew regained conscious... our work would be cut out with counseling and therapy.

"Are you going to congratulate him on his road to recovery or what?" Embry asked "'Cause honestly, the kid made quite the impact"  
"You call him kid"  
"Yeah, that's different" he sighed "I am his uncle"  
"You said you were his uncle..." I whispered in awe.  
"I guess I did" he said absently "I guess I am"

Xx~xx~xX

"I could break these" he lifted his bound hands "I could..."  
"I may not be Carlisle but I am not a halfwit Charles" I pulled the ottoman under me "You think I wasn't paying attention when Carlisle was talking about your adrenaline rush with regards to your own venom production? You are out of venom kid... and there is no adrenaline rush coming your way in a _while_..."

He sighed and slouched back down, glaring at a corner, his lips ashy and face pallid and feverish.

"Embry is proud of you" I told him "About Katherine...?"  
"I don't give a fuck" he spat "I don't know why I did it... I could have just let you handle things, I could have just run off and you would never have found me again. Leah, I would never have come back to you again and I would have been happy"  
"Happy being a junkie?"  
"Happy being away from you"  
"You aren't yourself"  
"This is me... this is who I am now" he laughed morosely "I suggest you _deal _with _it"_

"You once told me I was the strongest person you knew" I said "You know something, you have to be the strongest person I know"  
He remained silent, glowering at the empty corner.

"All her wounds are healing fast" I said "You saved her"

No response, just a soft sigh and then after a second, he turned his eyes towards me... and I understood, he was being strong, he was being brave and he was terrified of it. It was easier to expect the worst, when the best was so hard...

"Leah" he said "I am sorry"

"Nothing to be sorry about" I laughed, my voice parched. "You saved a life while we... ended two"

"You should just keep me like this" he held up his bound hands. "I am good for nothing"  
"I was going to ask you if you could contact Jacob" I whispered and he grimaced.

"Through the wolf link?" he asked and I nodded. "Isn't he part of the pack?"  
"No he is a loner, but you... you could reach him" I said.

"I can't" he shook his head, groaning a little "Leah, as the wolf the hunger turns me into something similar to those werewolves. And I don't want that hunger added to this... this pain of recovery. I don't want it even for a second, Leah. I don't know how to be human again, but I think I can learn a second time around? Leah, I am so scared..."

"Don't be scared" I whispered, moving from the ottoman to him. He lowered his head onto his bound hands. I touched his hair and tried to move his head up but he refused the motion, groaning a little.

"You smell divine to me, Leah. You always have... not like sweet poison to the good in me, but like... the antidote to every single hurting"  
"Don't be scared, Charles" I breathed feeling the stinging in my eyes and trying to wrap my arms around him and failing then opting to remove the rope from his wrists, freeing his hands. He ignored this and remained silent, a soft cry coming from him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him off of the couch and onto the floor with me, trying to rock him... trying to comfort him like I used to...

"Forgive me Leah, I am weak" he whispered into my hair, his head nudging into the space between my neck and shoulder, cool breath fanning over the skin there. A thrill shot up my spine momentarily as I felt a cool kiss on my neck, and thought for a second I would feel his teeth in my skin...

But that didn't come; instead, he wrapped his arms easily around me and scooped me into his lap and held me so tightly, defying so much and forming a new safe haven for us.

"Forgive me, Leah" he breathed "I have been weak..." another kiss on my neck, another thrill as I thought he would bite into me, this time the exquisite fear mingled with wild anticipation for him to do just that "But I can never be weak with you, if you are my strength and if you are where I have lain my humanity to rest... then surely, I could learn it from you?"

Not a bite and not a scratch and he was, for once and forever after that, stronger in a way that I could never ever hope of knowing and I was for the first time since Sam and my father, comforted and filled with a sense of safety through Charles.

The sound of Renesme and Jacob, and three Cullen's arriving in the background serenaded that feeling, in that moment, as Charles held me in a way I had never known I needed to be held before and I thought that for once, I didn't need to be so strong...

I was his strength.

And he was mine.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CHARLES BLACK**

"My blood did this to you?" I asked again and Edward smiled slightly.

"Your blood has so many capabilities" this was Carlisle, naturally, pacing Angela's old dinky living room in a blur, Esme watching him patiently while Edward remained fixed on my mother and I sitting on the couch. "Your venom too... every side of you, Charles, is combined in one way. No vampiric part is left isolated without the influence of the Shapeshifter gene... your humanity... your wolf side... everything draws weakness and strength from each other!"  
"You could take some... Carlisle" I said slowly "For your scars"  
"Nonsense!" Carlisle laughed nervously, touching the collar of his shirt.

"Those scars tell a story" Esme whispered. "I have never been a fighter, never been good at... this, war. And Carlisle... your grandfather, well... he might not like it but he is rather efficient when pressed to do it"  
"There is nothing I wouldn't do for my family" Carlisle paused his pacing and smiled at his wife "Nothing I wouldn't do for you, my love... and tackling a werewolf should not surprise you"  
"You tackled a werewolf alone?" I asked bemused.

"Well, not alone... with Emmett and Rosalie" Carlisle murmured "Nahuel ran off... he knew the territory we were in was not Joham's but this Raul. And Raul has werewolves patrolling his borders to Joham's territories. Edward, they don't need the moon to turn! They have collars and... What I suspect to be human guards or watchers who trigger their transformation and somehow control them through the collars... a series of electric shocks. There is so much more here... and as much as Aro wont leave my family alone, I feel this is beyond us son"  
"Yes, the werewolves..." Renesme breathed from beside me, tucking my hair back. She had been murmuring how thin I had gotten; accusing Leah of negligence "We never really understood how it was Raul was controlling them. It would make sense that the human familiars were controlling them... a vampire... is a grave distraction to those beasts. They caught a werewolf once, it was mindless... more mindless than a new born. There is no semblance of humanity in those creatures when they are transformed. They are beasts... rabid ones at that. Best to be put down"

"Dominic and Matthew don't even know what their sustenance is" I murmured, avoiding Edward's gaze this time. Was I ready to discuss venom? We were all here and I remembered the power the venom gave me... but I remembered the torture the monster in me delivered with each dosage, the loneliness and fear of harming Leah...

"That's a sign" Edward whispered, smiling "You are healing"

"More on Nahuel" I pressed Carlisle, quickly moving them over asking Edward what his statement was about.

"He ran off" Carlisle repeated "Of course, the beasts were not so concerned with him from his being half human... I am unsure on whether he will return to Joham or seek Huilen out. Rosalie and Emmett decided to stay a while in Rio and source information out and they will try and make their way back to us through Africa... precaution. Jasper is doing the same..."  
"Where is Alice?" Esme asked.

"She left when Isabella and Jane attacked us" I said "For Jasper... I am sure, they had threatened her with him"  
"Then she should be with Jasper" Esme nodded "Her gift would lead her to him"

"In the face of these werewolves..." Edward said "Aro wants us all more than ever. He has no hope of convincing Caius to take Raul or Joham's measures... so more vampires with talents mean everything to him. And I suspect, he knows how much of an upper hand he would have if he had actual wolves that had intelligence at his command..."

"He can never have the Quileute!" Renesme growled, her eyes flashing "He can never have _anyone..._ not anymore. We will be our own army if need be!"

"Which is what Leah and Jacob have agreed on" Edward smiled. "And that is where I am impressed with Leah Clearwater... taking the reins to ensure our world remains ours"

"Do we stay here?" Esme asked.

"No" I said "It would be unwise of us to remain where _they_ know we once where"  
"We can't move until the werewolves are done with their cycle" Edward said.

"And what of the girl?" Renesme asked, looking back at the door that I once lay motionless for weeks behind.

"She has to come" Edward said "There is no way to tell if she is infected by either Charles blood and venom, or the wolf bite as yet... she is going to have to be a part of this, for a while"

Xx~xx~xX

Of course I wanted to be back at the farm, with the wolves and Leah-but being part vampire in any manner made it that much more difficult for Dominic and Matthew when they transformed. It felt like we had entered a new world, or at least… stumbled upon an old one that we had previously been ignorant to.

No death or life, no joy or sorrow-just fear; that was all we had to guide us in this strange new world…

It is prudent, to fear the unknown.

**AUHTORS NOTE:**

**IF YOU WERE ONE OF THE FEW WHO READ THE UNEDITED VERSION, APLOGIES. I named both files the same and well… you get the picture. **

**Two character deaths, or three… to come. You have been warned.**


	22. A Hidden Moment

**A HIDDEN MOMENT**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**EDWARD ANTHONY MASEN**

There is a moment between chaos and destruction, a moment of bliss.

It seemed as though this was that moment, Renesme with her son, Charles recovering with Leah, and Jacob failing futilely not to play his rightful role. It was our own little haven, in the little apartment-Jacob and Leah popping in and out to deliver food for the other pack members and bring news of the werewolves.

Occasionally, Katherine would twitch in Jacob and Charles old room-occasionally, her mind would whirl with the images of her family dying and her own death and before it could wake her from her comma, she would fall out of her mind weakly with nothing but a whimper of despair.

But I wouldn't mention it to them, I couldn't... I hadn't seen this many smiles and heard this much laughter, however small and tentative it all was-I supposed behind it all, they knew that at any moment the chaos and war would come and snatch it all away.

I wanted to leave the apartment, and I did on numerous occasions-braving the town as Carlisle's young 'recovered from cancer' son, braving the town as the face they hadn't truly seen before. She was everywhere, you see-her scent saturated into everything in the apartment, her full frown stained on my eyelids and her soft lips pressing vehemently against my marble stone was.

There was a moment of bliss, between the chaos and destruction, and that moment had been when Angela Weber had kissed me so thoroughly.

Xx~xx~xX

I wondered how she was, what it was she was up to-had she gone on numerous other dates with Jonathan... had she kissed him as she had kissed me? Of course she had, I had seen her reckless passion in his mind that first moment she had had with him on her porch-on their first date, and as they had stumbled into the house.

She was of passion, she was of daring fragility in a world were there should be no delicateness left in the face of natural cruelty and then she would challenge it all with her bravery. It was nothing, if not customary, that any kiss she would deliver could ignite souls.

She had ignited my soul, awoken it from its deep slumber in the cocoon of darkness that was vampirism. She had parched my throat not from thirst but from silent screams to the heavens that I did indeed believe... there was a God, there was a Devil and demons...

Well, I was a _saved_ demon now.

Xx~xx~xX

Did I fancy myself in love?

Nothing about the way I felt for Angela could be juxtaposed with how I had felt for Bella. Sometimes I thought the emotion was weaker-I had left her hadn't I? With Bella, I had been incapable of leaving... and when I had left, I had been incapable of living. Surely that meant that what I felt for Angela was weaker...

Then I would think that Isabella had made me believe that from the moment I had entered her life, I had rendered her incapable of living without me and with that notion-I felt responsible to be in her life. Angela, as sombre as the truth was... I knew would not dwell on the absence of a single vampire with such health threatening dramatics. I wasn't so beautiful she couldn't think, I wasn't so dazzling that she couldn't blink, my voice wasn't so melodious that her heart would squeeze and hyperventilation would be her constant illness...

I wasn't, but I was. I was gorgeous, I was charming, my voice inviting... but it had nothing to do with her so she had no need to suffer from it (of course, unless I pushed my way... I could always, push my way...). She pitied me, she cared for me... she was not, obsessed and entranced by me. She could walk away from me, she could say terrible things to me, she could have her way with me...

She could, have had her way with me...

Edward the eternally young, Edward the eternally sorrowful, oh, poor... _poor_ Edward.

In it all, I think I could stand to leave Angela in the face of such conspiring dangers because Angela Weber, as simple as it was, could take care of herself.

Did I fancy myself in love? Once, I had... long ago. I had thought I had found the love of my eternity in one human _teenage _girl. But now, I may have found the infatuation of my century in Isabella because in Angela... I found emotions that could never be written in any Jane Austen novel-deep satins, luscious reds and crimsons all swirling inside me with such rawness and purpose that the feeling itself was nothing pure and light and carefree as I had always thought love should be.

It was rich, sinfully decadent, the ultimate high and drug.

At times I wanted to run back to her, to knock the door down and rip Jonathan's head off. At times, I wanted to send her a message-however subliminal and hidden-and tell her, hint to her, that she had started a raging inferno in a being that wasn't in the slightest bit fireproof.

But those were moments, and then reality would hit and I would be left bruised and battered... I could never see her again. I would carry these glistening sparks of an on coming inferno for eternity and she would never know or feel their warmth.

And in that, I would love her more than any other...

Because in that, I would be most selfless.

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**CHARLES EDWARD BLACK**

**x**

"Where is Edward?" Esme asked, folding the towel and placing it on the counter. She was in an apron, the picture of perfect house wife while Carlisle was her perfect husband, reading a newspaper quietly and intensely on the couch.

"Another patrol of the town" I said "Or like I had seen him yesterday, wondering about aimlessly with a blank expression on his face and _weirdly _trailing his fingers over every buildings surface"

"He must be worrying about the others" Esme sighed "Maybe we should send an S.O.S to Eleazar?" she asked Carlisle and he immediately stiffened from behind the paper.

"No, dear" he said, placing the paper down "It is important we not pull in together. It is important we remain silent and nonexistent to the world"

"I don't sit well with the situation on the farm" Esme said softly, something in her eyes told me that she would have been hissing that statement if she were any less a loving wife and mother.

"Neither do I" Carlisle said "But as sad as it was, as sad as any death is... it happened and the necessary methods had to be taken. Jacob of course, couldn't risk any other humans suddenly approaching the farmhouse in search of the 'Hollands', and instead meeting Matthew and Dominic? It is only for a few more days, less than two by Leah's estimations and then we can send in a tip on where the bodies are..."  
"Just talking about it is so gruesome!" Esme shuddered. "I couldn't fault them, could I? We had our share of casualties... and I had my share of guilt and blood"

"We should never find ourselves desensitized to it" Carlisle said giving me an indicative look "A life is a life, no matter how permanent one is in comparison to another and each life should be mourned, and each life should be prayed for"  
"Yes" I said, praying he wasn't going to quote a bible verse or push the matter, Renesme was silently cutting carrots and trying to shrink out of sight. I wondered how many lives she had put out, how many mortals she had laid down to rest...

I wondered if I would ever know death in my hands... The mystery didn't last long; not in our world, not in this lifetime, would I ever be spared the sensation of life slipping through my fingers. I wondered what would bring me to that; push me to that act...

And the door opened, and Leah walked through-her eyes automatically meeting mine...

And once again, that mystery didn't last long.

Xx~xx~xX

"Yeah, he is eating himself up about it" she sighed, leaning long and slender against the wall while peering out the large window, down to the car park and the unassuming humans. "I don't think Dominic has ever had a moment of joy in his life, I don't think he knows about acceptance and all that family stuff. It's all just... I don't know, apologising for existing or something"  
"So he talks to you" I tried to keep my voice even, I tried to keep my expression neutral and not scowl. She answered with a casual "yes" and I scowled and huffed, folding my arms over my chest and glaring out to the idiot humans laughing and driving in their short existence.

"I think it helps" she said. "But I don't know, I keep hoping for a moment when he will recognise me... when he is the werewolf, but it never comes"  
"He is a mindless beast"  
"The _werewolf_ is a mindless beast" she raised and eyebrow "What's up?"

"Nothing" I said-it was sort of true. "Maybe I just don't feel comfortable that every night you are at risk of being bitten or something"  
"We already established that Shapeshifters are immune to the effects of werewolf bites" she said technically but with a hint of excitement. She liked knowing this, she liked dissecting and discovering things about the amazing _Dominic..._ "Like with Seth, he was scratched and bitten in America but it didn't affect him were as Edward couldn't repair himself"

"Dominic could bite a limb off of you"

"It would grow back"  
"I would bite his limb off while yours was growing back!" I snapped and she laughed, touching my arm lightly and sending a shock through both our contacting skins. She retracted her hand immediately and frowned at it, avoiding my gaze.

"It's funny you are so anti-Dominic" Leah said "He gets on with Jacob"  
"Does he get on with Renesme?" I asked and she shook her head, frowning.

"Renesme can't meet them yet, you know that Charles. Not while the cycle is on"  
"Hmm" my point exactly... in a world were finding someone who had experienced the same hell as you, supernatural beings were not apt to sharing companions of their eternity. Jacob and Renesme, whatever was going on there-they had gone through hell together (amnesia or no amnesia) and they knew it deep down.

And I was still journeying through the fiery abyss...

I didn't give a fuck about Dominic and his counselling sessions. He should go buy a bloody diary if his thoughts are so tortured...

Or take a walk with Edward through the town, touching buildings and humming tunes.

Xx~xx~xX

"Jake is bigger than Dominic!" Seth was very excited about this, and something about his behaviour towards Jacob was bordering on hero worshipping "I mean, I don't remember you _ever _being that big, Jake!"

"Neither do I" Jacob mumbled, giving me an indicative look before rubbing his arm purposefully-where a strange leathery ignorable scar lay. I looked back at him with a raised eyebrow and his voice erupted in my head, not as loud as if he were a wolf of course... but irritating in the way it pushed every other thought out and demanded my attention.

_You bit me,_ he thought purposefully.

He thought my venom had something to do with his strange new wolf form, the older brother if you would of the old russet wolf with the shaggy fur. I hadn't seen him turned, but I had heard Seth recite poetry on his powerful Alpha's form the whole day to know that Jacob was a whole new breed of wolf-wider muzzle, thicker dagger teeth and longer limbs-not like he had lost muscle mass, but like his form had adapted to a changing surrounding.

"No offence Leah" Seth breathed, falling back on the beanie and giving Jacob starry eyes, like he really had been saved from some life threatening incident "But with Jake here, these werewolf baby sitting nights are a _breeze..._"  
"That's because you stay right at the outer circle" Jacob laughed "Scaredy Cat"

"I just give you guys a good view of them, so we don't have another Katherine incident" Seth lied, turning his head to the shut bedroom door "So, she woken up yet?"  
"No" Leah answered wearily, worn out with Seth's sudden jolt of energy and immaturity since we had arrived on the farm.

"Does she look like she is about to turn?"  
"Haven't seen her since we carried her out" Leah said looking at me "Charles and Carlisle tend to her"  
"Can I have a peek?" Seth asked, scooting up "Leah blurred out the injuries and stuff"  
"Seth!" Leah shrieked whacking the back of Seth's head "What the fuck has gotten into you!"

"Hey!" Seth growled, reaching for Leah's hand and shoving it away before pulling at Leah's leg-trying to pull her off the couch and onto the floor. I immediately wound my arm around Leah's waist and held her easily in place, her heat seeping into my side and her body forgetting all about her suddenly idiotic younger brother in favour of stiffening at our contact.

"Cut it out Seth" Jacob sighed "I have never Alpha'd..."  
"Ehem" I let go of Leah quickly and she scooted to the other end of the couch, leaving a considerable space between us that could fit two people. I ignored it, I tried to, and concentrated on Jacob's stern face "You Alpha'd me"  
"Oh, yeah" he frowned, leaning back into his chair. "Well, Seth... you need to lay off the energy drinks. You are behaving like a pup... in fact, you are behaving like the Seth I knew... in my recent past"

"Even that Seth wouldn't be such a dick!" Leah snapped, huddling in her corner and clutching the armrest like she thought she would fall or slide of her seat. I was vaguely aware that I had repositioned myself to face her, as though I really did expect her to fall and my body was preparing to spring and catch her...

"Charles?" Jacob asked and I snapped my head in his direction, blushing furiously and righting my self in my seat. He raised an eyebrow and looked over to Leah, who was now having a frowning contest with Seth over her temporary Alpha position getting to her head... "You okay there, buddy... you look a little flushed" he tried not to grin as he said this, and I failed not to growl.

"Mom?" I called casually and Renesme appeared behind Jacob's seat, holding recently ironed shirts.

"Charles, do you need anything?" she asked, frowning in confusion.

"Nothing, I just wanted Jacob to shut up"

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

"I don't get it?" Dominic asked Embry, pushing his pale thin legs out from under him and readjusting the towel so he remained appropriately covered from his position on the floor. Matthew remained unconscious beside him, his soft breathing echoing the deep snoring of Bradley and Billy. "I really, don't get it..."

It was a hot day, a blazing day, and Embry after everything he had gone through; from the point of leaving La Push and realising his mother would be finally silent soon, from the point he had realised he was uselessly in love with Leah, from the point he had embarked on a mission he thought would give him some semblance of joy...

Embry Call felt like ice inside.

His mind was not in the barn, with the two sleeping wolves, a sleeping Matthew and a shaking feverish Dominic or the silent wistful Billy thinking of his mother and father back in La Push. His mind, was not even tormenting itself with images of Leah in all her many hues of joy and sadness-that had nothing to do with him, his mind... his soul and heart, was ice and hurting with the single pain that had never before been allowed to set root because before, he had never acknowledged that he was indeed, Jacob Black's brother.

But now, sitting in the barn and knowing he had a brother and a nephew, he felt... something cold and painful, because neither Jacob nor Charles could be bothered by that. At least, not the initial, who was still reeling from the death of his noble father through his amnesia... he knew nothing of his best friends shared DNA, and Embry thought, Jacob Black wouldn't be bothered to care regardless of amnesia and sorrow.

Jacob Black had always had his family, and even now, he had one. He could go to that apartment and have dinner with the Cullen's, bicker with Renesme and hug his son goodbye before skipping merrily back to this little farm hell hole with his new best buddy... Leah Clearwater.

He didn't know what exactly he was jealous of, what exactly he was angry about... or maybe he did know, but it was all to much and to numerous to try and squash together into one comprehension.

"Embry?" Dominic called again and Embry raised his head from his knees and gave Dominic a half patient look. "How is... Jacob now the leader"  
"Because it is in his _blood_!" Embry snapped. "It wasn't truly in Leah's. In fact, if Charles were up for it... he could Alpha all of us to do ballerina dances for you, while you sit there and build up enough strength to make my nights nightmares"

"I am sorry about their deaths" Dominic rasped, his large blue eyes filled with deeply etched emotions that even Embry, in his moment of overwhelming bitterness, knew he was not of a superior emotional capacity to hold. He thought, that if he had Dominic's pains and aches-physical and otherwise, he would have burnt up and been blown to ashes a long while ago.

"They are there, huddled up while we are here" Embry said, ignoring Dominic slight groan of frustration and remorse. "Fuck... I am all alone"

"Me two" Dominic mumbled. "All my life"

"All my life" Embry agreed.

"I miss my home... and First Beach" Billy sighed rising from the ground "This shit is too 'Broke Back Mountain' for me, excuse me... while I go fantasize about girls"

Embry watched Billy skulk of, and thought for a moment, that in his moment of bitterness he had failed and neglected to realise that Billy, was his relation too.

How could he be jealous of family, when he didn't know how to be one to anyone as yet? How could he be angry with Jacob, when Jacob had done nothing to him? Nor Leah, nor Charles... not even the Cullens had truly committed a felony. Maybe he was lonely, he thought, because he had chosen to isolate his problems... like he used to as a teenager, when his mother would turn violent under the influence of Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker.

"Ain't no wine bottles here to throw" he chuckled morosely "That's for sure"

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

The dog wouldn't shut up. Yipping and yapping, struggling in his grip all the way to the Jeep and trying to free itself _somehow_ all the way to the apartment. He had found it wandering the house, thin and shaking and when it had seen him it had cowered back and let out a series of little growls. He thought it looked frightened, he thought it looked terrified... but all that didn't matter in the face of hunger and it had braved the house and the terrifying barn.

"Come here" he sighed, and it let out a series of feral growls, beady eyes glaring hate and fear at him and teeth exposed. "Oh, come over here... you mangy mutt!" he snapped, pushing his hand down and expecting to find its neck so he could pull it out from under the drivers seat but instead, he felt its teeth sink into his hand.

"Ouch" Jacob Black said comically calmly, retracting his hand and surveying the punctures. By the time he had raised his hand, only faint pink spots was evident of the dog's bite. "Now you have gone and done it!" he snarled, dragging it out by its tail and groaning when it let out a slew of desperate yippity-yaps, crying and whimpering as he raised it in the air and surveyed it. It writhed and wailed, enough sound to alert any animal lover or non-deaf person, but he didn't care.

He had never been a dog person, as amusing as it was. But Embry had gone into some sort of emotional trauma when he had seen the dog (identified as the dead Old Man's dog) and that was enough to put Jacob into action... because Embry, had been in a state of cold daze as it was and Jacob feared his old friend was at risk of having a wolfy stroke.

"Shut up" Jacob muttered, handling the medium sized dog-of course this was all biased to Jacob according to his own build-and turning it this way and that way in his large hands, not caring too much for its little nips and snaps at his flesh.

It began to whine and his temper soared so suddenly. He hated that he knew what each little sound could mean-it wanted to be free, it thought he was going to hurt it and most of all, the Alpha in him was grated by the pathetic show of defence that had lasted too short and turned too quickly in to begging.

"Seriously, shut it" Jacob muttered, watching the numbers in the elevator panel blink alive as he ascended up to the apartment. Through the corridor they went, the dog had peed on his arm and he had had to stop himself from slamming it against a wall.

"No" Renesme opened the door as soon as he reached the apartment, stood tall but shorter than him, blocking the entrance to the apartment and scowling beautifully at him.

He hadn't anticipated this answer or reaction, and it threw him off a loop.

He didn't know a lot about women, even though he had two sisters and 'a Leah' (who he never really thought of as girly since phasing anyway), and admittedly, what he really thought of girls when he thought of them in the context of the definition of their title was all rather narrow and stereotypical.

Jacob thought, a little woman or a lady-which was the category he had put Renesme and Esme in-was all about sewing, cooking, knitting and cleaning. After all, the other afternoon, Renesme and Esme had been crocheting by the window while Esme told Renesme all about the time she first met Carlisle as a human girl.

Little women, were small creatures-of course, he was once again biased due to Renesme being a head shorter than him, although she was as tall as Leah and much, much taller than Bella. Little women were delicate slender creatures-once again, he was biased on his views, for at times it was difficult not to notice and muse over Renesme's curves and perfect ass-to-boob ratio. Little women needed taking care off-how he had forgotten that Renesme was more than capable of holding her own, was besides him as he stood there bemused staring into her stern brown eyes and wondering if they were about to go 'gladiator in a coliseum'.

But mostly, little women liked little things and taking care of said little things. And so he raised the squirming, still yipping mangy grey dog with its patches of missing fur up, and smiled sheepishly behind it, berating himself internally for thinking Renesme would ever have squealed with joy at the prospect of caring for a dog...

"..." he mumbled, and she had lost his frayed words behind the yapping dog-he had only let out one audible and intelligible '...for you' in his sentence.

"What?" she frowned, gripping the door frame.

"Shut the fuck up and be still!" Jacob growled at the dog suddenly, and all its yapping ceased immediately and it shrunk into stillness in his arms. "I said..." Jacob took a step forward towards Renesme and she immediately took one back, allowing him to cross the threshold of the apartment in favour of not wanting to feel his heat so close to her skin, and he entered the apartment with the wide eyed shocked dog "Don't be such a pompous _brat_, the dog isn't for you. It's for Katherine!"

"Oh" she managed, stepping aside and watching as he stomped to the bedroom, slightly perplexed. He entered the bedroom in a huff, making a show of glaring at her and Renesme remembered to glare back at him-they were oblivious to Carlisle and Esme's amusement and of course, Edward was at his 'walks' and even if he was there... he wouldn't part from his thoughts to share in reality.

Jacob placed the dog down on the carpet, by the foot of a sleeping Katherine's bed and pointed at it, giving it a stern narrow look and said sharply, his voice hard and textured "You better stay there, you better shut it and be a good dog, do you understand me?!"

It let out a small whimper and laid its head on its front paws in what Renesme thought was fear, but Jacob recognised as submission to his command. He closed the bedroom door, trying not to bang it and mumbled a goodbye to Esme and saluted Carlisle and stopped in front of Renesme and said "You better wash that dog, it stinks"  
"I agree, it stinks" she folded her arms over her chest and raised a perfect eyebrow, cocking her head "But I would think you would know how to take a shower by now, having opposable thumbs and all"

"Just do it!" Jacob snapped.

"Idiot" Renesme retorted.  
"Bronze haired freak"

"Said the giant dog!"

"...you do realise you two share a child?" Carlisle said amused and they stopped, their eyes widening before they both looked at Carlisle.

"Who is both bronze haired and can turn into a giant dog?" Esme added.

"I'd rather have bronze hair..." Renesme flipped her hair in Jacob's face, Jacob scowling as her alluring scent wafted over him "Than the ability to lick my own balls!"  
"As long as we agree that you have balls!" Jacob snarled, opening the door and stepping out of the apartment.

"Bigger ones than you!"

"I agree with you fully there, sweetheart!" Jacob sneered.

"Get out!" Renesme shrieked and Jacob cringed back at the volume of her voice.

"I am already out!" he bellowed.

"You know what?"  
"What?!" he snarled.

"You are right, for once!" and with that she slammed the door in his face and left him glaring and trembling, angry and perplexed at the glossy door of the apartment.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**EDWARD ANTHONY MASEN**

**x**

A billion hours and years in the world, but all you will require is a minute... take that minute and think. Think really hard, delve into a part of your mind were light turns to darkness and forms come out of those shadows and give way to a scene. This is the place were purple dinosaurs live, were pigs can fly and the world is filled with rainbows and love... or if you are of the morbid variety, flames roar and ice pierces, tyranny rains and you are the sole leader of such a world.

Enter your imagination.

You are alone, and before you... the most valuable thing in the world lays at your feet. Broken and mangled, no hope of recovering it ever again. The most valued being in your world, is laid down forever and that light extinguished.

And while we are in your imagination, imagine it was real?

Would you ever believe in a moment of bliss? Would you ever believe in anything? Would you ever recover... would you?

It was easier for me, I supposed. I hadn't known how valuable she had become to my own immortality, Angela Weber... until she was away from me. it was easier to recover, because I had secured her in the world, and she would never lay broken by my feet... but eternally untouchable in my mind.

So could you fault me for residing in my imagination, more than in this feeble reality, were everything was perfect and whole?

Could you fault me for being a selfish smug prick, and knowing that my one treasure would forever be burning and perfect?


	23. The Uncontrollable

**THE UNCONTROLLABLE**

Some things are born out of being a mother. Impulses, unexplainable reactions to different situations and fears and bravery that you have no control of... all from being a giver of life, from needing to protect that life at all cost, at _any_ costs.

"Where is the rest of your pack?" Jane demanded, but of course, any answer the black wolf with the tuft of white fur on its chest could ever give was unintelligible to either Isabella or Jane, and any of the other vampires surrounding the twitching wolf.

"Bella!" Sam called desperately, struggling uselessly in the grip of one of the lesser guards. "Please, Bella... please, he is just a boy... he is just a _boy_...!"

"I see no boy" Jane scoffed "I see a mangy dog!"

"Just tell us what we need to know, Sam" Isabella said softly, refusing to look at the whimpering wolf and keeping her eyes firmly on Sam Uley-praying that none of the other Guard would notice the other heart beat inside the house, praying Emily would remain hidden...

But knowing unexplainably that there was no such chance of that, it would take mere seconds or minutes before Emily would succumb to the overpowering bravery of motherhood. Isabella prayed, begged some other force that the woman would stay inside but as Sam was shaken by the vampire and his son kicked violently in the ribs by Felix-the air filling with the wolf's whimper and Sam's groan, Emily Uley ran out of her hiding place (that every vampire truthfully knew about but didn't care for), screaming and wailing, hands flailing in the air and hair wild.

She didn't know what possessed her to do such a thing, she didn't know where he rigid control had gone to and why she had suddenly forgotten her promise to herself that she would be disciplined and impartial to all emotions to the point of stone, but Isabella sprung her shield over Emily.

"Isabella!" Jane hissed, glaring at Isabella and before Jane could allow her pre-adolescent eternal emotions of contempt to end Emily, Isabella rushed to the crying mother and held her easily in her arms, stopping her from reaching her son.

"What are you doing?!" Felix hissed at Isabella.

"Leverage" Bella breathed, her hand going over Emily's mouth and muffling the woman's wild desperate cries. "Sam, you may not love your son as you love your imprint..."  
"Don't you dare!" Sam Uley hissed "Don't you dare..." he roared, his eyes wide and fearful, locked to his eternal wife's desperate enraged ones.

"Don't you dare what?" Jane asked amused "Isabella, are we to take this insolence? If you are going to use that dog's bitch... then put some effort in it"

"Give her to me!" Chelsea hissed, flinging her hand out for Emily, who continued to writhe pointlessly in Isabella's small immovable arms, her eyes locked to her son's form while her husband stared at her in horrification.

"Chelsea... I can handle this!" Isabella hissed.

"Give her the girl, Isabella" Jane said sweetly, her eyes gleaming with some form of joy... that Isabella realised had been dancing in her eyes since they had left Volterra... something wasn't right, and in that moment Isabella knew that all her ploys and treachery were not so hidden, Isabella knew that if she didn't think fast... she would find her immortality ended soon.

"No, Jane... there is no need..." Isabella began and Felix laughed.

"Isabella is _attached_" Chelsea tutted, taking a step forward and ignoring Isabella's low growl "Once a dog lover..."  
"Get the girl and give the dog and the human some incentive to cooperate" Jane commanded lazily.

"She doesn't know anything!" Sam bellowed, his eyes an aching red and tears streaming down his taut russet cheeks, through his greying short beard. "We all don't know... they all left against the Elders ruling... Isabella, you know how Leah is like. She is stubborn. They all left... every wolf, and they promised not to return!"

"Well, not every wolf evidently..." Jane looked at the twitching wolf and it whimpered freshly. "I suppose one is better than none, we can bag this one and half of you will deliver him to Aro"

"The girl, Bella" Felix demanded, stalking Isabella alongside Chelsea.

"No" Bella breathed, her hands winding tighter around Emily who whimpered in pain.

"Take her" Jane droned and the two vampires wrestled Isabella, not caring for the bruising and injuries they caused Emily in the process and pushed Isabella into a guard's arm. "Stay" Jane smiled, wagging her finger at Isabella "They say an old dog can't learn new tricks... but I am sure you will learn how to follow, after your brief stint leading"  
"Dog, start howling directions!" Felix laughed and bit into Emily's neck viciously, before tossing her near her wolf son.

There are certain levels of intimacy, certain levels of connecting and attaching to another being that, however permanent or temporary, transcend all others in their one significance of remaining etched in the memory and mind of the two individuals, as the light burning when darkness consumes.

She had forgotten it so easily, in her joy at finding herself immortal-only holding on to the shallow candy emotions of her humanity... but as Sam Uley miraculously freed himself from his vampire captors hands and erupted into the air as the black wolf, it came to her in a tidal wave.

Isabella Swan, remembered so vividly how she had lain on a cold forest floor so horrifyingly miserable as she realised her one wonder and her one hope at being significantly wonderful had abandoned her. She remembered the dampness of the leaves around her, the smell of the earth and each shudder she had taken...

But as Sam charged at Felix, willing himself through an incomprehensible transformation after duo decades of stagnancy in the world of the supernatural, Isabella met his fiery eyes and remembered how those blazing eyes had been the shining stars in her darkness, when Sam Uley had rescued her as the black wolf from such a natural death when Edward Cullen had left her.

They were all concerned with the black wolf now, forgetting Emily's twitching form and Isabella felt the unnamed guard release her hands and rush forward. She only had a second, but she was a vampire and a second was a lifetime...

She knew the look Sam gave her, she prayed and hoped he had spoken to her in that look and he had understood her response. And so she whisked Emily into her arms in all the chaos, the groaning bleeding woman smelling sinfully divine in her arms... and through the forest Isabella went, leaving Sam to his death and his son to a fate of being encaged in Volterra, Italy. She left, with Emily... leaving the last wolves of the small Indian Reservation of the Quileute to a fate of death and vicious dog training, equally doomed under Aro.

"No..." Emily groaned, but Isabella kept her mouth firm on the neck wound, licking the bitterness of her venom laced blood until it tasted sweet once more. "Sam..."  
"Sam is gone" Isabella breathed. "Forever"

Xx~xx~xX

"Where are you taking me!" Emily demanded. "You... you... you witch, you whore, you home wrecker!"  
"Whose home did I wreck?" Isabella laughed, speeding up the highway, nervously checking the review mirror although she knew the vision behind her easily from the five minutes check she had made prior.

"Your own!" Emily spat and Isabella frowned.

"I am taking you to them, to Edward and Renesme" Isabella said coolly. "I have to warn them that Jane is on her way... we can only pray we get there before that _gnome_. You will be my ticket to gaining their trust"  
"You mean that I will be your ticket to gaining their forgiveness!" Emily laughed bitterly, sitting up in the back of the BMW, and scooting her bound form in the middle to glare audaciously through the review mirror at Isabella's red eyes "No one will ever forgive you. Not God, not even Jesus would get on a cross for you... you are damned till the end of time! I suppose, the Devil would forgive you for your denial"

"Shut up" Isabella murmured, looking back at the expanse of road, weaving the smooth car through the dithering traffic of the night "I am feeling peckish, and your wound is still fresh"

"Kill me" Emily whispered hoarsely "Kill me now" she tilted her neck, grimacing at the raw ache of her injury under the stained bandage.

"They say people who have nothing to live for are the most deadly" Isabella murmured "Do you truly have nothing to live for, Emily?"  
"You took my Sam..."  
"Sam sacrificed his life for you to live" Isabella breathed "I didn't kill him... it was them"

"You... you vampire, demon..." Emily whimpered.

"I saved you" Isabella whispered "I didn't need to. I didn't have to... I didn't, I shouldn't have had to"  
"You should have let me die!" Emily cried. "He would be here, he would be with him... he would have rescued them..."  
"You want to be the 'Third Wife' so badly" Isabella whispered.

"Yes" Emily sobbed.

"I saved you out of deference of my human self" Isabella said coolly "Who the fuck do you think will avenge Sam, or rescue your brat? I have my plate full trying to clean up this mess and be rid of Aro and Joham and if you haven't noticed... I have just made myself an undesirable for you, there is no going back from that. So you choose now, and you chose wisely... will you die never knowing if your boy was ever rescued, never knowing you could rescue him to follow your beloved black wolf... or will you risk the reality of life, and do everything you can to protect the one half of your soul mate that still exists on this earth?"

"Sam!" Emily cried and Isabella sighed, reaching behind her without taking her eyes of the road, fisting Emily's hair and grabbing her rudely through the space between the passenger's seat and drivers. She pulled Emily up by her blouse, licking Emily's neck once and before she bit a new wound into her neck, Emily cried "I want to live for him!"

"I thought so" Isabella scoffed, releasing Emily and letting her fall awkwardly half way to the front of the car, her legs still bound and bent in the back seat. "A mother always knows"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"It's like..." how could she explain the imprint without sounding in love? She used to be able to, she used to know exactly how to word it and put it out so she was neither a paedophile nor some starry eyed being. She felt young, giddy, afraid even... of her love for Charles Black.

Wasn't it a strange thing to fear the love you had for someone? They say you should learn to love yourself fully, before you can love any other... but she thought she loved him fully, and then loved all else second, herself included.

"I don't know" she sighed, giving up and staring at her hands. Dominic watched her silently, surreptitious in his admiration of her beauty, masochistic in his growing affection of her blatant strength and veiled gorgeous vulnerability.

He had never known such a beauty... such a fire, such a woman.

"You said you watched him grow before you" he pressed on, quietly fearsome of Charles Black, the playful giant man of a boy 'Jacob Black's' apparent son. "It would be strange, for you to be intimate with him..."  
"I am not intimate with him!" Leah hissed, her eyes flashing with fire and Dominic laughed.

"Thou does protest too much, My Lady" he chuckled

"You ruined it, by taking saying it so modern" Leah sulked, looking away from him and rubbing her tender arm absently.

"I am sorry about the arm" he said softly and she looked at it, pushing it through the air and surveying it as though it was a separate object not attached to her.

"It is an ugly arm, my mother always told me"

"I meant the bite"  
"It wasn't you, it was Matthew" Leah dropped her arm and looked over at a sleeping Matthew "He is turning out a lot more violent than you actually. You tend to just get bullied by Jake..."  
"I whish I remembered some of it"  
"No you don't..." Leah said softly, icily and a thrill went down Dominic's back-fear of the werewolf that resided in him and its activities when his mind was too lulled to sleep by violence to care to take notice and record. "Anyway" she smiled at him "You should ask Jacob to phase for you while you are conscious... you'll appreciate his size, and understand how freaking amazing it is that he can subdue you on his own!"  
"Sounds... terrific" Dominic said dryly.

"I thought you would be more thrilled that someone is able to rein you in"  
"I don't know, it's a little emasculating"  
"Don't take offence dude, Jacob is an Alpha" Billy had joined Seth's hero worshipping of Jacob much to Leah's chagrin "It's in his blood to emasculate all males..."  
"Except Leah" Bradley chuckled "He... re-masculates her or something"

"Dude, that was so dry... it crumbled instead of cracking anyone up" Collin muttered.

"Where are Seth and Embry?" Leah asked.

"Taking advantage of wolf genetics and the hierarchy system that comes with it and taking a nap in the house" Bradley grumbled.

"Wolf hierarchy sucks" Billy frowned. "I could be Alpha one day, but I would have to find a wolf gene carrying girl..."

"If Leah and Charles had a..."  
"Cow" Leah hissed at Bradley. "We'd drop it on your head"

Xx~xx~xX

"She hasn't said a word" Carlisle murmured "Not a word..."  
"She is in grief, she knows her parents are dead and she knows what she saw was real" Edward said softly, twirling a stalk of grass in his fingers, the sun rays seeping through the billowing curtains and teasing his skin into crushed diamonds every now and then. His eyes were closed, his expression not tranquil although his whole form appeared relaxed in the wingback chair. He looked grave, so lost in the emotions of Katherine and his own failure not to dissect them into their most raw forms.

"But the bite?" Jacob asked, pressing the matter at hand "Charles or the werewolf, did either bites affect her?"

"She has a fever" Carlisle murmured, facing away from Jacob "It may be a simple fever..."

"So she isn't turning into a vampire" Jacob charged on past their attachment to the silent young girl, his understanding of the matter was different from theirs. He was not about to get attached, he was not however so callous to the emotional situation... but a giant werewolf in an apartment would not be an easily manageable thing.

"No" Renesme said "She would be in a comma for the vampire transition"

"But werewolf transition involves fevers, loss of weight and seizures?" Jacob asked Carlisle, who still wouldn't face him-who Jacob knew was still trying to change reality into a scenario where the young frightened Katherine huddled in the middle of the bed in the bedroom... was not going through the symptoms of being infected by the werewolf bite.

"How much weight has she lost?" Jacob demanded and when Carlisle didn't answer, only turning around and giving Jacob a desolate look, Jacob turned his attentions to Edward. "Edward, how much weight?"  
"A considerable amount" Edward breathed, glancing at Esme. "She can't hold anything down, she is fevering right now... hot and cold"  
"Right" Jacob breathed, shrugging his leather jacket off and storming up to the bedroom door. Carlisle appeared in his way, casually blocking him. "Doctor, please move?"  
"Jake... what are you going to do with her?" Carlisle asked softly, looking up at Jacob's stern face.

"If you think I am going to shackle her and tie her up in the barn..." Jacob smiled derisively "Then you are half right"

"You have to handle this differently Jacob!" Carlisle implored, ignoring how his six foot exact height was thwarted by Jacob's immovable tall form. It was difficult not to notice that Jacob had lost some of his original burliness through his 'Werewolf Sitting' duties, his form leaner but still muscled.

"Carlisle, all I meant was I was taking her to the farm" Jacob said slowly "Embry will do all the soft talking and introductions into the werewolf life of hell. She will sit tight, be given three meals a day... and when she transforms, which by the sound of it I believe will be tonight... she will be in a stable environment, no pun intended"

"You are an ass" Renesme frowned.

"Stop looking at it" Jacob tilted his head in her direction but kept his gaze on Carlisle. "Doctor, please move..."

"Let me talk to her, tell her she is going somewhere safe" Carlisle sighed, opening the door and entering it. Jacob followed behind him, frowning at the darkness and stuffiness of the room but when he saw the tiny girl clutching herself and rocking back on forth on the bed, skin pasty and sweaty and eyes large and frightened... he forgot his previous irritation at the vampires for treating her like a 'pet'.

"Katherine" Carlisle whispered "Jacob here is going to take you back to the farm"  
"I don't want to go back to the farm" Katherine rasped, never ceasing her rocking and shaking her head. "There are beasts there, giant beasts there..."  
"You were bitten..." Jacob began and Carlisle raised his hand for him to stop.

"Jacob is going to take very good care of you" Carlisle said.

"I want to stay here, with you and Esme" Katherine murmured, shaking her head "Everyone is dead. Everyone is gone; it isn't safe on the farm..."  
Jacob sighed, and then froze when he spotted the mangy dog huddled in the corner of the room and staring fearfully of Katherine. The dog knew, Jacob thought, it could smell her change in scent... it could smell the mindless beast beneath the skinny girl.

"You been feeding the dog?" Jacob asked Katherine and she shuddered, a single tear falling over her cheek.

"He hates me" she whispered, looking up at Jacob "He hates me!"

"Delirium" Jacob muttered to Carlisle quickly "Doctor, when she turns and she will... and when you vampires are alone with her and her hunger for your flesh... you'll be forgetting every bible verse you have ever crammed and stabbing her with your cross"

"She isn't a monster" Carlisle whispered.

"I didn't say she was" Jacob said coolly "But the thing inside of her is, and that's who will be here by nightfall"

"Katherine" Carlisle sighed wearily, reaching his hand out to her "Come, Jacob will look after you..."  
"I don't want to go with him!" Katherine cried, staring at Jacob suspiciously.

"How about if I come too?" Renesme asked, entering the room "Charles and I will escort you there and stay for a little while"  
"I don't think that is a good idea" Jacob hissed.

"And how would you know to recognise a good idea?" Renesme raised an eyebrow. Katherine rose from the bed shakily, shuffled forward and allowed Jacob to drape her in his jacket before following Renesme and a silent Charles out of the house, Jacob Black tall and grim tailing them.

Xx~xx~xX

"Two more fucking days of this..." Seth grumbled, scowling morosely and glaring at his make shift cast, his thigh bone evidently not healing straight as the flesh rose and remained bruised. "I can't believe I let you dare me into joining you and Leah to handle Matthew... that dude is like a rat on speed! What am I saying; they are both rats on speed... sewer rats..."  
"Seth, cool it" Embry sighed, stretching his own unharmed legs out across the bed so they dangles right off the edge. He stared at the worn out ceiling, with its antique flowery light cover and stains of water that had leaked from the geyser probably and ruined its whiteness in pools of brown stains.

"You know I am not like this... I am not some... jerk" Seth continued bitterly, rubbing around his swollen thigh and flinching when it panged in response "But those things..."  
"Seth..." Embry warned, listening in on the sounds of the Jeep arriving on the farm once more, his stomach grumbling in response to the door slamming shut-eggs, Embry thought. But then he heard the distinct shutting sounds of two other doors and frowned. Eggs and company...

Was Carlisle really this selfless that he would come from the apartment to heal Seth's messed up leg?

Yes, Carlisle Cullen really was that selflessly stupid, Embry thought.

"Ah, I hope he brought morphine..." Seth sighed, leaning back on the bed and frowning at his purpling thigh.

"Hey, we have company... tidy this place up" Jacob opened the bedroom door, Charles peering inside from behind him.

"What, Charles is bunking with us..." Embry frowned "Jake, I don't think that is really a good idea..."  
"No, not Charles" Jake said stiffly "The... the farmer's daughter"  
"The farmers daughter?" Seth and Embry said together in bewilderment.

"Yeah, she is still... you know, traumatised but nothing can be done about it" Jacob said "Symptoms show she will be turning tonight"

"Turning..." Seth said slowly, listening to the stumbling weak steps of one being, and the ghosting deliberate ones of another. His face contorted into disgust, anger twisting his lips up "Are you saying... another _werewolf..." _He spat the word out "Another one of those... giant... rabid... rats to look after..."  
"Seth, cool it" Embry warned again, his hand going on Seth's shoulder, trying to still his trembling somehow. "If you phase, your bone..."  
"Seth, I expect better from you... you are behaving like a pup!" Jacob growled "Even Billy is more mature than you are now... what the fuck has gotten into you"  
"These things have gotten into me, under my skin... through my bone!" Seth roared, rising from the bed, forgetting his troubled leg and in the process-miraculously-the motion righted the bone with a painful 'clack' under his flesh, giving him only a moment to process the pain before the healing set in motion.

"She can hear you Seth!" Jacob looked behind him at someone; Seth could only make out bronze hair from behind Jacob and Charles disapproving gaze. It was someone small, he realised-weren't they all small, deceiving any being that they were harmless...

"Seth, stop being a dick man... shit, it's like he is possessed my Paul's old wolf self!" Embry mumbled, rising and preparing for the worst as Seth continued to tremble, glaring through Jacob at the invisible little Werewolf and feeling an incredible heat take him over, a new form of anger pulling him to such murderous intent...

"Seth, I swear if I have to Alpha you for the first fucking time...!" Jacob hissed, taking a step forward and preparing himself, in the small little room, to phase and wreck the house. But his movement revealed the small terrified Katherine tucked under Renesme's arm and standing between Charles and Renesme and as Seth took three vicious steps to do something reckless... and as Jacob pulled back his fist, Embry going for the door to shut it and hide Katherine and the two hybrids from the beat down the two half brothers were about to give a 'Seth Clearwater' who had not felt like himself since arriving on the farm...

Seth met Katherine's wide eyes, and stumbled in his rush... falling to his knees so Jacob's punch was swung and collided awkwardly with nothing but air before Seth's imprint was hidden from his sights just as she had been revealed, by the slamming door.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"There is this misconception in their world that human's are the lesser species" the voice droned through the phone, low and rasping-male and mean. "You know exactly what I am talking about Ms Weber..."  
"You are confused" Angela Denver murmured, smiling awkwardly at a passing student and huddling herself in the corner, staring down the corridor suspiciously "My name is Ms Denver"

"When you are done playing Ms Denver, Angela" the voice chuckled, Angela pressing the phone harder to her ear and unaware that she had an expression of deep fear etched on her face, and that her students of the front row could see her through the glass panelling of the closed door. "Please, send a single text to this number and we can discuss your rage for vampires"

She thought she had stopped breathing, her throat suddenly dry and scorching. She swallowed once, and steadied herself before asking, her voice riddled in pitches "What are you talking about?"  
"We have file on you, that dates to your last stay in Forks before you suddenly disappeared"

He didn't know that she had disappeared with the Cullens, that she had run off with them to the farm... her last stay in Forks, and the only vampire that she could ever have rage for would be...

"We know, that a vampire identified only as a top member of the Volturi Guard of Volterra... stayed with you, Ms Weber" he told her "And we know you made plans to run away. Ms Weber, you are very valuable to us you see... because you are the first human who has ever made contact with these creatures, and successfully managed to evade them and actually remain alive"  
"Yes" Angela breathed, thinking that her only reason for survival had been because of her interaction with _other _creatures.

"Who was the vampire who terrorised you Ms Weber?"  
"Isabella" Angela said, smiling bitterly "Isabella Swan"

"Ms Weber, there is a dangerous misconception these beasts have of us... that us humans are lesser creatures" he laughed "Ms Weber, your survival is proof that that is not the case and Ms Weber..."  
"Please, call me Angela" Angela breathed.

"Angela" the man said thoughtfully "Our existence is for the people. Our existence, is as private if not as thoroughly secretive as theirs... and our purpose..."  
"Is to burn Isabella to ashes" Angela snarled, vaguely aware that her fury and hatred for her old High School peer had never truly left her.

"And bring their world crumbling around them" he told her, and she missed the meaning in all of it, she missed the decision she had made and its repercussions because in that moment, the voice of the man said:

"Ms Weber, do you have anger in you?"

"Yes" Angela breathed "I have it..."

"Well, we want you to have it. We want you to hold it and what we want to do for you, Mrs Weber... is to turn that anger into a sword..."

"So I could smite them all with it" Angela whispered, thinking of Isabella, thinking of the dark Angel that had flown to her when she had first seen a Shapeshifter on the farm, thinking of Jane and the feeling of mental inferno...

"So you could be _our_ avenging Angel, Ms Weber" he said "And smite them all with it"

**AUHTORS NOTE:**

**Someone asked me about Sam's son a while ago... **

**Is glad everyone is on board with Charles and Leah! It's still so very complex, and the current atmosphere and situation is difficult to build around that. I am not sure how you are feeling about Renesme and Jacob, so let me know ;) **

**Yes, it is building up to something pretty big! I was almost worried for a second that it would be like five chapters of this left... we will see.**

**Did I say three deaths? Can we just change that to multiple for a second...**

**A tear for Sam, and a sigh of relief that Seth's weirdness was explained...**

**Xx**

**TJ**


	24. Murphy's Law

**MURPHY'S LAW**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

It had been a hot day, unseasonably so.

Mary and Hannah didn't mind it too much, although Mary was mildly irritated that she was unable to tend to her garden due to the sun scorching her back and Hannah was irked by her _continuous_ sweating in all manner of _strange_ places on her body. They walked slowly down the pavement, under their umbrellas-watching the little town dither and drag under the lulling heat.

"I saw the boy" Hannah said, pursing her lips (it was rare for her to know something that Mary hadn't found out about first).

"The... boy?" Mary asked, peering from under her umbrella and cringing back into its shade immediately when she left her face momentarily exposed to the heat of late afternoon. "Carlisle's boy? Carlie's brother...?"  
"Of course"

"I was so sure they had moved for good" Mary said and then pursing her own lips in a knowing manner, she said smugly "I think they bought their farm back. I haven't seen that _miserable_ girl in town"  
"Oh, _her_..." Hannah said in drawn out pity "What a tragic thing-to be born into such poverty. That old man had no business marrying so late and young... respectably"  
"No business at all!" Mary agreed "He is going to die and leave that woman and that teenage wraith impoverished... well, impoverished _further_. What can he possibly be able to farm!? So old as he is, much older than I...!"

"Yes, much older!" Hannah agreed "You say you are a June baby, Mary?"  
"Yes, why?" Mary asked.

"I heard he was a May baby" Hannah said, not bothering to hide her smirk.

"That's not to say we are of the same year!"

"Oh how right you are! Because one or two years in advancement makes _all the difference!"_ Hannah laughed and Mary spluttered in indignation, forgetting about the hot sun momentarily and lowering her umbrella. They were right in front of their favourite diner.

"You take that back!" Mary hissed, squinting behind her glasses, her hair tight in its bun and with the added heat-a headache worked its way under her strained scalp.

"Or you will what!?" Hannah challenged, lowering her own umbrella and lifting her chin up self importantly. She rolled her shoulders and stuck out her considerable bust. "Quote a bible verse at me? Go ahead! Let's see... shall we start with 'do not commit adultery'?"  
"That was one time..."  
"With my husband!"  
"He died twenty years ago!" Mary hissed back "And I apologised!"  
"You apologised on his death day, with rhubarb pie!" Hannah growled  
"Your problem with the pie was that it tasted so good you finished the whole thing alone!"

"Exactly, you witch!" Hannah hissed "You were making sure I would die a widow by fattening me up!"  
"So you are blaming your weight issues on me?"  
"Yes, you sinner!" Hannah whacked Mary with her umbrella.

"You...!" Mary frowned viciously, whacking Hannah in return with her own umbrella and the two elderly women stood in front of their diner momentarily, caught up in memories of their youth and trials-waving their umbrellas like swords.

"Humans" a clear voice droned in a thick accent and the women paused their fighting, standing bewildered and sweating, clutching their umbrellas absently. They both stared in awe and fear at the being standing before them. "Withered and dying, but still squabbling over their _pathetic_ lives"  
"Flora" the beautiful man breathed, pressing a hand on the shoulder of the gorgeous woman who had spoken. Flora turned towards Mary and Hannah and removed her sunglasses momentarily before placing them back on and sighing wearily.

"Withered and Dying, Nahuel" she chided, entering the diner "I like my blood fresh and newly alive"

"You are a monster" Nahuel whispered, looking at the strange old women in equal confusion to the bewilderment that the old women gave to the strange beautiful beings. "Babe's Flora?"  
"The true monsters are behind us" Flora called and Nahuel sighed, glancing over his shoulder before entering the diner.

Hannah and Mary clutched the other's hand desperately, united in their sudden fear as three thin sickly tall men followed the beautiful beings inside the diner, followed by three other normal men and lastly, a fat smartly dressed prim woman.

The woman stopped and nodded at Hannah and Mary. "Lovely day" she said to them, smiling sweetly "Will you be coming inside ladies?"

Hannah and Mary peeked inside the diner, their mouths hanging open. And despite their confusing fear; their curiosity on a good story took them over, as it had done so many times over those few months.

"It's too hot to be..." Mary looked over at Hannah, whose hair was mussed and cheeks blazing. "To be... fussing over... the past"

"Agreed" Hannah folded her umbrella and smoothed out her blouse. "I am Hannah" she said and pointed at her friend "This is Mary"

"Good to meet you" the little chubby woman greeted. "My name is Lorraine..."

"Erm" Mary peeked inside the diner again "Are you with... _them_"  
"In a way..." Lorraine smiled patiently, taking Mary's umbrella and folding it for her "It's not good to be out in this heat. In fact... I think it won't be good to be out after the heat _and_ the _sun_. It would be good to be in bed, Mary and Hannah"  
"Oh, you think us too old to be out?" Hannah asked, lifting an eyebrow "We have dinner here. And prior to that, we _always _have our four o'clock tea"

"Sorry, if you think our presence would disturb whatever it is you are having in there!" Mary cocked her head at the diner "But us 'old ladies' like our routines"  
"Understandable" Lorraine smiled, looking inside the diner.

"So if you think you are going to just... bully us..."  
"Oh, no!" Lorraine smiled her warm sweet smile, her round cheeks lifting "You see, that is were you are wrong. I am here to make sure _you _don't get bullied. You see, I work for an organisation that understands that _you and I _where here fist. And what I am doing here, with those three men you saw..."  
"The tall ones?" Mary asked "Are they... like... cancer or... _Aids..._"

"No!" Lorraine laughed heartily. "The _regular looking men"_  
"I don't like the sound of this" Mary whispered to Hannah "It all sounds very West Side or... gangs... type of nonsense. This town is going to the dogs"  
Lorraine laughed abruptly again, startling both Hannah and Mary "Well, ladies..." Lorraine said wiping a stray tear from her eyes "Me and my boys, and those three thin gentlemen... are simply here to make sure you aren't bullied in the proceedings of certain... discussions. I hope you have your dinner and go to your homes as advised"  
Lorraine stepped inside the diner, that was relatively full and sighed "For a small town, seems pretty packed today. Talk about drawn to chaos" She glanced to the left of the diner, were the patrons seemed to be staying clear off. The two beautiful beings sat alone on one table while the three tall sickly men sat opposite the normal men on an adjacent table.

"Hannah and Mary" Lorraine said, making room for Mary and Hannah to wobble into the diner "I hope you enjoy your meal. Good day"

And with that, Lorraine went to the left of the diner, sat opposite the one called Nahuel and the other called Flora on the same table-waved her hand out for a waitress and amicably ordered herself an espresso while taking out a thick book that Mary recognised as the bible.

"Something ain't right here" Hannah muttered, tugging Mary's hand and leading them to an empty table far enough that she could still see the strangers.

"I don't know, she seems okay" Mary murmured.

"Because you saw her take out a bible?" Hannah scoffed.

"No! I am not so _fickle_!" Mary said, taking her hand back and touching the clip fastened at the back of her head before taking her seat. "She and I have the same hair clip"

Xx~xx~xX

"They are disorganised..." Nahuel continued "They are not instinctual, too many emotions and they allow these emotions to lead them"  
"Vampires are vampires" Lorraine sipped her coffee and thumbed through her bible, never looking up at Nahuel and ignoring Flora. In one ear, Lorraine had what appeared to be an earphone... but Flora knew enough to know it disrupted her gift from working on the human woman. "Emotions... _what emotions could demons contain?"_

"Well, anyway..." Nahuel glanced at his sister uneasily before continuing "It should be fairly... simple. Except for the dogs... but there are only really two and the boy is unstable. Three werewolves are an abundant supply of overtime for the vampires, and like I said... I doubt they all returned to this place after they were in South America. In fact, they might not be here..."  
"You better not be praying for that just because of that other half vampire..." Lorraine looked up at him "Her file is in the priority list, I must warn you..."  
"Warn us?" Flora scoffed and Nahuel raised his hand for her to remain quiet. Flora looked away from Lorraine and scowled instead at the three pure bred werewolves (who were unabashedly staring at her vilely). The one man licked his lips at her before twitching slightly when the human opposite him pressed a button from a remote in his hand. The werewolf averted his eyes then, and concentrated on the menu.

"We are allowing you your little vendetta" Lorraine said gently, sweetly and Nahuel and Flora reeled back at her cordial impudence. "You can have the half breed and the boy"  
"It was the boy, alone" Nahuel said

"The half vampire too, dear brother" Flora murmured "These would not be your lingering _persuasions_ causing you memory loss on father's orders?"  
"No" Nahuel looked at his clenched hands, and frowned at the memory of Charles Black attacking him, frowned and thirsted at the memory of Charles Black's _blood. _"That whore chose her runt. She will always choose that... runt. I should have known"

"If only your mothers could have remained alive to love you in a manner similar to this poor runt?" Lorraine smiled sweetly and while Flora took no offence-humans were nothing to her, not even her own unknown mother was worth a second in her mind-Nahuel cringed back, thinking of Huilen. "But you killed your mothers, like the monsters you are"  
"If you keep irritating me like this..."Flora began and a human male tutted from the other table and opposite him, a thin pallid man turned his head deliberately at their table and grinned; yellow teeth appearing harmless in the light. Flora quietened immediately and chose to safely glare at Lorraine's beverage.

"We have an understanding with your father" Lorraine smiled in that same cordial impudent manner, her fat fingers going around her cup "He wants the half vampire girl to lure and control the traitor..."  
"Isabella" Nahuel breathed.

"Yes, names... monsters... who cares for them" Lorraine waved her hand dismissively "And honestly, Joham wanting to ruin the Volturi for his whore is not of our concern. Let them squabble over this 'Isabella'"  
"My father is not concerned over Isabella's relationship with Aro!" Flora said tetchily "And your use is going to expire soon. Once all your trinkets run out of battery power... and you don't have a leash on those _dogs, _I will show you a true demon!"  
"And trust me" Nahuel leaned back "Those dogs, need leashes. They can't tell their masters from their enemies..."

"But they can tell their vampire treats from their masters a little better" Lorraine smiled, sipping her coffee "And without us humans keeping your father's guard dogs in check like we had done for Raul..."  
"Double agents if ever!" Flora growled and Lorraine tutted, unperturbed by the girl's hard animal sound.

"Business is business" Lorraine said sadly. "I was saying, if we didn't keep the werewolves controlled for you... they'd sniff you out and bite through your pretty little bottoms good and proper, don't you agree?"  
The half vampires remained silent, the diner buzzing with chatter and munching, Hannah and Mary sitting silently on their table and watching the strange meeting between Lorraine and the two pretty siblings.

"In fact..." Lorraine, stirred her coffee "All we want is a three hundred plus vampire, and those are difficult to find. Only other vampires seem to be able to track other vampires; shrewd beasts that you are. So our agreement with Joham covers that-we only want the three hundred year old vampire and you want the girl and her son. In actuality, we have been very cordial and understanding. We could always have saved time and resources and I don't know, asked Joham to volunteer himself?"  
"Is that a threat?!" Nahuel growled.  
"Dear, order a muffin and stop _growling _and spitting!" Lorraine laughed "Pretty _creature _like you! Enjoy the atmosphere... enjoy the light, because tonight... Mr Jenkins over there..." Lorraine cocked her head at the tallest of the thin fevering men "He'll be all teeth and lucky for you kids... he'll be controlled by us little old weak... _humans_... and biting his way through the Cullens to get to your precious Rene...err, the _girl_ and the boy. And we'll leave you all well and alone until some other unfortunate business venture... once we get our good Doctor Cullen"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Their world had never seemed as fragile and temporary as it did, in that moment. None of their multiple centuries of existing between all of them could have ever helped them predict and prepare for this scenario...

"Don't leave me!" Katherine begged. She whimpered softly, hands hot and clammy around Renesme's calf-the utmost sight of pathetic, withered and sickly with skin a pallid grey and hair wet and plastered to her forehead and kneeled at the half vampire's feet.

Renesme cringed back when her initial thought was to shake her leg free of the hot sweaty hands, but what shocked her more was the realisation that she would have freed her leg but scooped the girl up in her arms-sweat, tears, snot and all.

"Stay"

"I can't..." Renesme breathed gulping down something loose and chaotic in her. Katherine looked up at her, her eyes wide and terrified... lips ashen and painful looking, heart spluttering fearsomely in her little chest.

The door shut, Charles breathing purposefully into the air but Renesme could not look away from the infected girl's eyes.

"We have to leave, Mother" Charles voice managed to cut through the sound of Katherine's whimpers, through the fearsome sounds of the wolves subduing Seth while Jacob shouted orders to prepare Matthew and Dominic.  
"No, no... please, Renesme!" Katherine begged, getting Renesme's name all wrong but that little mistake in the pronunciation tugged at her heart, called out to a part of Renesme that was new and recent since she had begun healing with her father and son.

She already knew what she was about to do, she already knew as she gripped Katherine's thin arm and lifted her easily from the unvarnished floor and lead her to the bed. She sat Katherine down carefully and stroked her hair, looking up at Charles in the same stern manner he looked at her.

"Charles" she said softly "It's getting late, and I think _you _should leave"  
"She is turning, Mother" he said, tilting his head in impatient confusion. _She is turning..._ his voice resounded in Renesme's mind and with it, the image of the werewolves he had seen kill the farmer and his wife.

"I have experience with werewolves" Renesme said clearly, pushing barely there confidence into the tone of her voice "When she is about to... fully transform, I'll leave. I'll come home"  
"No" he stated, folding his arms over his chest.

"Yes" she said. "I am staying. Seth terrified her, she won't trust the wolves now..."

"You know exactly what it is Seth has done" Charles whispered rapidly and Renesme failed to hide her grimace although thankful that her son had not uttered her most feared word. Instinctually, Katherine was held closer and with more conviction by her arms.

Renesme turned her head stiffly away from him. "I said I am staying Charles... go to Edward. Go to Carlisle... just go"

"The pack wont be able to handle things if you are here, distracting them" Charles said.

"Those men..." Katherine shuddered, her eyes flashing "My Papa always warned me about _men_!"

Her arms wound around Katherine-again, Katherine's little wordings; the use of Papa instead of Daddy like all normal girls. An incomprehensible anger worked its way through Renesme at the wolves, at the werewolves... at _Seth_, at all those _men_ "Yes Katherine" she whispered, looking away from her son "I will protect you... form those men"

"Mother, Renesme..." Charles tried but she wouldn't look at him, over taken by decades of anger and fear, wanting to be something to Katherine that she had never had. "Well" Charles said eventually, sitting on the crusty chair as the sound of the wolves died down, pushed further of into the distance and closer to the barn "I guess we can leave the farm together"

"Only when I am good and ready" Renesme said absently "Never before"

Xx~xx~xX

_What the hell is she doing!_

_Embry, not now..._Jacob sighed, his tone laced with aggression and impatience. They paced the front of the barn, the door had been re-fixed once more and the side boarded up. It was a pathetic excuse for an enclosure, they all knew that... but sometimes, one needed a structure to feel like things could be controlled.

He looked up at the house, trying not to pay attention to the setting sun and the decreasing heat. He thought he saw a brief cloud of bronze hair move in the room...

_Dude that was the curtain billowing with the breeze..._ Embry snorted. Embry was on edge, naturally but Jacob took no notice. Embry had been on edge for a while now... and Jacob couldn't blame him. Jacob felt something in the air, the same thing that had made him go to the Cullens and demand for Katherine... it was instinct, he knew it but he couldn't seem to identify its purpose.

And with Renesme stubborn and grating as always, up in the room with Charles... and _that_ girl... he could feel it again. He growled, low and resounding and Collin tensed slightly, giving him a wary look before skipping into the barn to check on the fevering currently human men.

They had Seth just behind the barn, calming him and walking him through the imprint. Of course there was nothing that Jacob could contribute of current, save for his irritation at this 'Joyous Occasion' occurring on a _bloody_ full moon...

They needed all the wolves they cold get, and of current... he wished the Cullens had the ability to turn into wolves too. He flicked his tail and ignored the double image of himself from Embry and Billy's minds; a lean muscled regal beast constantly looking up at the house, before flicking its gaze at the far off woods on the outskirts of the farm.

Something isn't right... he thought. And it would be a little better if Bronze Barbie would leave the vicinity and take their son with her.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"Renesme should be back by now" Esme sighed, glancing out the widow again. She folded her arms over her chest, trying to dispel her worry but found it an exceptionally hard task if her worry was of the rational kind. The parking lot down below had only one car-a red sedan that she knew belonged to a single mother two floors down.

She didn't know the woman's name but she knew her son's name from hearing the boy being chided so profusely and completely every thirty minutes. The little boy reminded her of Edward in a way...

"I was hardly mischievous" Edward droned. "A little..."  
"Spoilt" Carlisle murmured from behind a newspaper. He was constantly reading the news, sourcing any hidden meaning behind headlines, worrying for his children... worrying about the missing Alice whom he knew Aro wanted desperately...

The sun had dipped and only the wisps of its rays gave light to the adamant day. They could go out now, if they wished... instead of wondering and fearing about the changing werewolves on their old farm home.

"The less we are seen, the better" Edward said coolly.

"Said the Marvellous Love Sick Adventurer" Esme failed to conceal her smug grin while Edward cringed in his seat. "Tell me dear, how many clouds have you wondered upon in the name of your love?"  
"It's a futile love" Edward grumbled looking away from his mother, away from both his parents and choosing to scowl at the coffee table... only to be reminded by its brown hue so thoroughly of _her _eyes. He turned his eyes up instead, and glared at the dusty light bulb fixed on the ceiling surface. "Like they always are... humans and vampires should never... connect. What do soulless beings know of this?"  
"My love, don't pay attention to him" Carlisle sighed "He only wishes to divert you from the fact that he has become a believer!"

"Oh...!" Esme squealed, clapping her hands together and sending Edward shining dark eyes "You do believe, don't you?"  
"I suppose there is no point denying it" Edward sighed exasperated, smiling beside himself "I do believe mother, that I have found the true and correct love but in another side to this beautiful story of my adventure..." his smile twisted and flickered into a hard line "This true and correct love of mine... is doomed. And I will never fight for it"

"I do prefer her to..."  
"Don't finish that sentence, Esme!" Carlisle chided but Esme pushed on.

"...to Isabella" she sighed dreamily. "She has..."  
"Character" Carlisle joined in beside himself before back tracking when he caught Edward's forlorn expression. "Son?"  
"I don't think this chaos will ever end" Edward sighed "Aro will never stop and now...!"  
"Vampires are not satisfied with territories" Carlisle breathed, closing his newspaper "They want kingdoms..."  
"And soon, it will be worlds they want!" Edward finished miserably, rising from his seat and settling himself to the idea of one last walk in the little town.

"Of course" Esme looked out of the window once more, out to the twilight of the world "How can love exist in such times?"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The violence inside the small compound put hell to shame with all its discord.

The moon hung lazily over the farm, staring down in satisfaction at its handiwork-there they were, its children... yearning to tear and rip, yearning for the sweet smells of hard decadent flesh. The wolves circled them in, nipping and snapping here and there while their Alpha hesitated, turning his head back to the side of the house...

The sound of bones breaking and creaking for the first time reverberated into Jacob's mind and his every sense became wired to the room, his every terror awoken by the sound of Charles Black begging his mother to move away from Katherine. Jacob took a step back from the pack, glancing briefly at Embry and Seth...

_I'll check it out..._ Jacob said quickly, warning Seth not to contribute a single word to the matter. Jacob's advancement towards the house only lasted a few paces before a giant ball of mangy fur flew threw the window of the room that contained Charles Black and Renesme Cullen... and landed with no coordination but an abundance of blind violence on the ground.

Jacob's heart stuttered momentarily only resuming its fast pace when he saw the two ghosting figures of Renesme and Charles skipping out of the hole in the house and running through the shadows, back to the apartment in town.

Of course, this had been easy for the pack for a few moons now... the werewolves remained focused on only the bars of wolves and teeth keeping them from ravaging the land in search of the elusive sustenance to their persistent hunger-they had no other distractions and this made work for the pack agreeable.

What could the wolves of the Quileute know on the nature of the Children of the Moon? Except what one of their pack mates had diligently set out to find knowledge of...

_Female werewolf..._ Leah Clearwater thought abruptly.

There may be other hungers that could distract the werewolves, she thought... but that singular thing had always been as elusive as their fatal starvation of vampire flesh...

Behind them, a line of hooded figures moved out of the woods and ghosted towards them in perfect synchronisation and an aura of ancient vendetta. The smell of sweet bloodless flesh was in the air and with it... the first scent of a female werewolf in America.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The pain of his love for Angela Weber came from knowing that there was no possible conclusion to it that would see either him or her happy. It had to be quarantined...

But how do you rid yourself of an emotion that sets root on every memory and understanding you have on the world, on _your_ world and your understanding of the world with regards to your reality. Everything was her; every scent and colour, every breeze and flower... imperfections were perfect to him, if they were hers. Spectacles round and horn rimmed were elegance, hoodies and baggy clothes attractive, pony tails high and sensual...

He couldn't bear to turn it into anything negative, but there was nothing positive about loving a pure human. He was damning her, this was damnation...

"..." his mouth hung open as he smelt her in the air. He was in the dusty book store, thumbing through romance novels. He couldn't deny it, he couldn't refute it... not after a whirlwind of misdiagnosed love and with it the result of his beautiful Renesme and his... lack of growth and intelligence in true love. Edward Cullen was in love, for the first time... and the feeling contained and bound him.

"Bella?" he murmured as the scent strengthened and she appeared right by his side, smaller than he was as normal... paler than she had ever been in her humanity as abnormal and eyes red and... half gone.

"My love" she said softly, whispering much lower than necessary for any vampire before glancing back out to the dimness of closing day. She touched his arm and he immediately pulled it back. She paid no notice to this before turning to him, her eyes large and wide... terrified, he realised.

"Why are you here" Edward growled, crushing the thick book in his hand to stop from either punching his ex wife or... bashing her head into the book rack beside her. "Leave, now..."  
"I have Emily" Isabella said quickly, as though at any moment she would be pulled out of the bookstore... kicked out of the store for being evil, Edward thought dryly. She sighed wearily, once more looking out to the outside.

"Nahuel is here" she said fast "He came with his sister. He came with... humans"

He remained silent, glaring at her dubiously before ignoring her statement and falling back to his one concern. "You said you have Emily?" Edward asked "Where is she then?"  
"I led her to the apartment" Isabella said matter of fact before tutting at the look of surprise on Edward's face "You were never one for absent mindedness. Walking about leaving your scent everywhere for any being with a sharp sense of smell to follow you home..."

"Where is Sam?" Edward asked brusquely. "Sam would never... you kidnapped her didn't you!"

"Sam is dead, his son is in Volterra and here we are my love..." Isabella sighed sadly, picking a novel up casually before failing to hide her agitation as she threw another terrified glance outside the store. "Here we are my love, my Edward... in this crappy town with Nahuel and humans... as well as the certainty that Jane has caught onto the pack's trail all the way here"

"Nahuel!" Edward growled.

"Oh, he is the least of our problems" Isabella took a step closer to him "The humans Edward... they've turned into our bogeyman and if he is with them... we need to get our daughter and leave"

"We...?" Edward cocked an eyebrow but before Isabella could respond with a mixture of impertinence and reprieve, a low snicker caught both vampires' ears over the bubbling sound of the world of the small town. It was a shady darkness now and although Edward knew of only the werewolves on the farm... Isabella was well aware that humans enjoyed making pets of werewolves, and the moon was upon them.

"Come out, come out..." sang a low rasping fevered voice "Wherever you are"

They stepped out together, Isabella's hand going for his but he had moved his hand back into his pocket.

"Nahuel" Edward said distastefully the moment he saw the half vampire.

"You are whole?" Nahuel raised an eyebrow. "What can be the reason for this... no one recovers from a werewolf bite?"

Edward answered him with a grin, flashing perfect white teeth at the befuddled young man. The street was no were near empty, the diner packed to capacity now and inside it, a few of its patrons watched curiously and excitedly at the strange meeting of nine beings standing in the road and facing off two pale glorious individuals. The werewolves were shaking in their lingering human forms, eyes changing colour and lips ashen and dry from hunger. Their noses flared at the smells drifting of the skin of the two pure vampires.

"Won't you lead us to Carlisle Cullen?" Flora asked them and Edward frowned at her. She asked the question again and this time Edward laughed at her.

"Thank my ex wife for the inefficiency of your gift of persuasion tonight!" he laughed, terrified by his own sense of bravado when he could clearly tell he would either be left in pieces once more (and this would be the best case scenario with the fevering tall thin men) or... omitted from the world finally.

"Let's not be cocky... for a fucking change, Edward!" Isabella hissed at Edward "We could negotiate..."  
"We do not negotiate with traitors!" Nahuel said scathingly before turning his eyes to a silent Lorraine and hissing "This would be your cue human! Set the dogs on them!"  
"There are humans..." Lorraine breathed but the matter was no longer in the control of her chubby fingers. The moon was out early and although the werewolves could be commanded in direction by the humans little gadgets... they were prisoners to the moon and would always be slaves to it first.

At the sight of transforming werewolves, Edward was taken back to South America...

How do you rid yourself of an emotion that sets root on every memory and understanding you have on the world, on your world and your understanding of the world with regards to your reality? You don't... you have no hope of banishing such an emotion. It is chaos, it is raw and untameable and the most trigger happy of things because anything can set it off...

His mind amplified the gift of his telepathy, churning and writhing and momentarily he could see Charles Black's mind; he could see his grandson pushing through the door of the apartment and rapidly recalling Katherine's transformation to Carlisle Cullen, while his daughter ran into the arms of his mother.

Charles stopped mid sentence, pushing the thought "Where are you Edward?" back to him. There was no need for a reply; he could see right back into Edward's mind-the diner, the little flower shop... the groaning and twisting half werewolves in the middle of the road and Nahuel.

"Nahuel!" Charles breathed from across the mental link, back in the apartment to the ears of Carlisle, Renesme and Esme... there was Emily, but she was irrelevant... "He is surrounded..." Edward heard his grandson's voice but it drifted away and he was thrust back into his reality with a new fear.

"They'll come" Edward whispered closing his eyes and feeling the pricking of tears that could never be shed...

"Who?" Isabella asked, shivering as the sounds of the werewolves filled her mind.

"My family" Edward whispered despondently finally taking her hand and squeezing it "Bella, what have I done?"

"The necessary" Bella breathed, bracing her self. "Call the bloody army Edward if you must...!"  
"You do realise they are just as likely to attack you as them?" Edward half forgot his predicament and sneered at Isabella, cocking his head at the horrid scene waiting to unravel on the fingertips of the humans and their little devices.

"What happened to 'Forgive and Forget'?"

"That only works with humans" Edward said aridly, still praying that Charles would ignore his uncontrolled mental connection with him... praying that Carlisle would somehow stay away from any action and keep Esme and Renesme with him "Vampires never forget, you see..."

And if memory served him correctly, the Cullen way would not permit for him to be left alone with Isabella as his company in the dealings of werewolves and vengeful half vampire... and what was worse, Charles was more a Black than anything else and impulse came first to him in the face of his loved ones being in danger.

Xx~xx~xX

**AUHTORS NOTE:**

**Apologies, first most. I was adjusting to Varsity life... its been hectic. Doing Geomatics, and that there is no walk in the park! Anyhow, I am trying to increase the pace of writing and thus posting... **

**All I can say is thank you for the support, without it I may have just... drifted off! You are truly... legends! (well, to me!)**

**I still stick to my previous warning from last chapter; there will be blood! Major death to come...**

**Interested in hearing your thoughts, as always... (seriously, you have no idea how I look forward to them!)**

**Loves!**

**TJ**


	25. The Colour of Chaos

**The Colour of Chaos**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**CHARLES BLACK**

**Xx~xx~xX**

It had been over a year since I had been reborn into the supernatural world. It made me love them more; realising how they tried to whisk me into another reality far away from their own horrifying one.

But I had come to accept it. This was who I was, this was what I was... it wasn't beautiful, it wasn't magnificent but it was _me_ and I was past wishing it would change to any other purpose. If I had never phased I would not have the strength to protect my family...

To protect all the beings that made me _who_ and _what_ I was.

I wasn't magnificent and just slightly beautiful; I was frayed in my supernatural make up, I was stronger and weaker, braver and cowardly but these were the things I possessed and I would make them my most lethal weapons...

At first, I was sure Edward was surrounded... but on closer inspection, Bella wasn't playing prison guard but united with her ex husband. But how long would that last with Bella...? She would trade him as soon as the offer arose. But just like Nahuel and Flora-together with their associates, just like they had my grandfather and grandmother surrounded; Carlisle, Esme and Renesme had formed a tight perimeter from the roofs of the buildings high and away from the twitching noses of the shuddering barely contained giant rabid rats.

"You can take us, no protest..." Edward murmurs and I immediately know he knows we are here. Forever the saint, forever the...

"Not the time to be a masochist!" Isabella snaps and I grin abruptly. It's all bravado; I am intoxicated with the anticipation of potential violence-this was the wolf part of me. The fear of the danger to come as a result of this could only be put down to that lingering adamant _humanity_ in me. Who was I kidding; I was truly a preternatural coated human of present...

Without the venom... just a human, underneath it all.

"Dear, as enchanting as it is to see you show such..." the plump human woman says apologetically, pulling a regretful expression "Shall I say humanness? Orders are orders..."

Orders were orders...

And the only order Carlisle and I had agreed upon, was that Edward Cullen would remain as he was. Whole and immortal, regardless of the fact that we were outnumbered in the sense of the giant pure bred _werewolves._

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**JACOB BLACK**

**Xx~xx~xX**

It was chaos.

_Left, Leah... help Bradley and Collin..._! I hissed and she skipped over Billy towards Matthew, her thoughts a slur of swear words and slight tinge of worry for Charles. He was fine, I thought deliberately in her mind. They had left the farm, and the farm had always been where the danger was...

_Embry, Seth and Billy... follow me.._! I growled and Billy whimpered, looking back at Collin and Bradley. _Billy... Leah will help Collin and Bradley handle... now move your potential Alpha ass here, and help me with this asshole of a werewolf!_

And amidst it all, snapping and pushing Dominic back... I could see the blazing eyes of a smaller werewolf, watching the violence with hunger. Katherine...

Dominic had said that werewolves were governed by only instinct... thoughts were barely ever there and if they were, they were irrelevant things. She took a step forwards and the excitement that coursed through Matthew and Dominic was disturbing, and just as I was sure they would spring for her... she sprung over _them _and collided with...

A vampire.

There was no point pretending there was order to the chaos... the Volturi were upon us, and by their interaction with the three werewolves-they had thought it was only a party of Quileute wolves and failed to anticipate our distantly resembling guests.

_Do not, I repeat... do not concern yourselves with controlling the werewolves!_ I roared, watching as the instincts of the werewolves took over-as red eyed vampires shrieked and zapped to get away from the hungry jaws of Matthew, Dominic and the little Katherine. _Let them do what is in their nature... because tonight, our natures have found _common_ ground. Destroy them, destroy the vampires...!_

X

And just like that, the Elite Guard of the Volturi became prey to the giant rabid rats –that were edged on militantly by the wolves of the Quileute. In such a chaos, only the worst can survive... the most underhandedly evil...

And as Jane and her brother, followed closely by Felix-as they skipped over the morbid scene of limbs and marble flesh and headed back to the forest, back to their beloved Volterra... Aro's little angels lived on for another day, for the anarchy of the world they fed off.

X

_Should we be allowing them to eat...? _Leah whispered. I couldn't bring myself to look at the writhing limbs being attacked by the werewolves. I stared on into the trees the little Jane had vanished into, a different sort of disgust working through me compared to the one my pack dealt with.

The werewolves were contained in a tight circle with their kill... the vampires... what vampires? It was nothing but bleached rubble on the ground. The only vampires that concerned me, the only disgust that ate at me... was the knowledge that three of the worst from Aro's lethal army had managed to wrangle their way through teeth, claws and fur... and return to Volterra.

_Jake..!._ Leah insisted, her tone laced with the queasiness that was all too human in our wolf minds-the humanness of potential vomiting.

_What do you want me to do? ! _I hissed and they all mentally cringed back from my tenor. I looked at the three delinquents of nature-a mass of mangy fur writhing together to get at... their kill. I ignored Seth's thoughts the hardest... but the rest of the pack were all ploughing at me, into my mind. It was disgusting, it was bordering on cannibalism... they flinched and gagged, looking away momentarily but drawn to the vileness of the horror in the end.

What could I do? What did they _think_ we could do...? Pull the werewolves away from the one thing they had been hungering for, for so long...

Then it all turned strange; the werewolves were no longer concerned with the twitching marble and now, they began circling the smallest of them-Katherine.

_Jake..._ Leah warned but I saw it too. Seth took a step forward, and received a warning growl from Matthew.

_Separate them...! _ I growled, taking a step forward too. I growled low but neither Matthew nor Dominic paid me any attention. Seth's hackles were raised, his thoughts one string of 'I won't let it come to that, not a scratch not a drop of blood... will come from her'.

The aggression heated up exponentially, teeth and claws, growls and snarls and there was no other way out of it. Katherine was surrounded by the two werewolves, and those two werewolves were not concerned with the rest of the pack warning them to back off...

Instinct, had come into play.

One nip of Katherine's hind quarter equalled one lash out from Seth to Matthew and it all went up into the air then. We were battling werewolves. This was not like the other nights, this was not us _containing_ them, this was not them hungry and disoriented.

They were fed. They were strong. They wanted more...

_Seth...! _Leah leapt to help her brother, Embry hesitating momentarily as Katherine was viciously bitten by Dominic, her strange whimper filling the air past the hard animal sounds coming from every supernatural being there. Matthew rolled with the Clearwater siblings, Billy and Collin in pursuit while I dived between Dominic and Katherine.

_Stop...!_ I didn't know who I was hissing to, staring into Dominic's long gone eyes. He reared back and pounced on me, knocking Bradley's efforts of help to the side and completely bulldozing Embry to get at me... and in the midst of it all, Katherine joined in on the attack of werewolf versus wolf-picking the side of her species who wanted to bite her into little pieces over the wolves who didn't need to risk a limb for her(ignoring Seth and his inconvenient imprinting). She yanked at my tail while Dominic attacked my neck, the thick fur there saving me from his serrated teeth.

Matthew had somehow freed himself from the rest of the wolves and joined in, taking purchase of some part of me. I could see their efforts in my mind, the pack's determination in getting the three werewolves off of me...

_Stop..._! I growled but these were not my pack mates. These were not even wolves...

At least, not _Quileute_ wolves. And they were not _my_ pack mates, but they had _minds_... however demented and narrowed they may be in their current form... and I had a son, a son who bit me and granted me an extraordinary level of telepathy...

**STOP!**

The thought boomed from my mind, I felt the heat of it and the energy seep through to it from my centre. Their maws went limp and relaxed on whatever flesh they had managed to gain purchase of, my heart thundering in my chest as I felt a ragged weakness come over me. I had been carrying their weight on me, refusing to submit to their efforts and twisting in their jaws past the pain of their clenched jaws and teeth.

It was too quiet suddenly, the night whistling around me. I was free and breathing hard and heavy while they sat around me-all three of them, breathing evenly and black snouts glistening with _my_ blood. They sat still and calm like I had never seen them before-the ugliest of hounds at attention. I got up shakily and twitched my limbs free of the awkward pangs of bites and bruises.

_Jake...?_ Embry coughed into my mind and I realised it had been too silent in my thoughts. _Do you mind... unAlphaing those of us who are very much aware we have free will?_

My pack sat around the werewolves and I, breathing heavy and hard, their eyes distressed and postures hard and uncomfortable-unlike the easy stillness of the werewolves under my command.

_Err, uhm... unstop? _ I muttered in a daze, the directive barely laced with the timbre of the alpha.

_Argh! _Leah roared into my mind, leaping forward and head butting me playfully. _I thought you were werewolf chow... I mean, I am glad you aren't and all but if you ever Alpha edict me like that again, I'll _kill_ you!_

_Yeah, Jake... _Billy whispered sheepishly. _That hurt like a motherfucker..._

_Kid swears..._Collin commended. _Paul finally shines through in him..._

_Katherine..._ Seth whimpered, taking a tentative step towards the smallest werewolf and nudging its side. It growled low and dangerous but made no move save for the easy rise and fall of its narrow chest. _Is she... why isn't she free?_

_The 'thought' wasn't the same. _I explained, licking my shoulder wound slowly and tentatively-trying to ignore the still twitching random white bits on the ground. _I did the... thought projection thing I do with Charles. And then I just... used the wolf link the second time around. That thought thing, the one Charles and I do... it drains you of energy as is, now with the Alpha edict involved.. That was a bitch._

_You want to train Lassie and her two goons to do some tricks and follow us..._ Leah began and Seth growled low and dangerous. His warning was met with numerous eye-rolls and mental replays of his pre-imprint days and anti-werewolf slurs. He cringed back and remained quiet, but still bitter.

_They'll follow,_ I said but they could see the doubt in my mind. I took a step towards Dominic and then another, until we were nose to nose and I could see into his flat violent eyes. _We said we would look after you..._ It wasn't a thought projection, it wasn't really a wolf link conversation but somehow, I hoped he would see it in my eyes. In the way animals just know whether or not they are a threat to each other.

_And we will..._ Leah stood at my side and Dominic looked at her too, before glancing at me. I don't know what we hoped for; a light piercing the darkness of his eyes... comprehension falling over his form, maybe that he would shed the leathery skin and transform into a Quileute wolf...

But he remained the same. Impassive and apathetic but still violent-somehow, still violent, although he knew that his growls were reserved for anyone but my self... and as my Beta, Leah seemed to have been spared any snarls and howls from the werewolves.

_We should head for the apartment..._ Leah murmured, walking back with me. The pack rose from the ground and followed suit, ignoring the stationary werewolves momentarily until... all three werewolves followed behind, silent and numb. We stopped then, and looked back. They stopped too, and stared at us with the same hard lifeless gaze.

_They'll follow... _ I said. _They know..._

_Even werewolves... have a leader. _Leah chuckled morbidly. _We need to get to the apartment..._

_I hear you, Lee... but we aren't going anywhere with these guys, _I cocked my head back at our three musketeers.

_Then let me go. _ Leah insisted and I frowned.

_You'll go with Embry then..._ I sighed, looking up at the moon. It wasn't disappearing any time soon. _Leah, be careful..._

I don't know why I said it, what it meant... but it seemed like the right words.

_Sure, they are the right words..._ Embry chuckled, nudging me as he moved past. _Be good while we are gone, Oh Magnificent and _strange _Alpha?_

_Aren't I always? _I laughed, watching as they skipped ahead to phase in separate locations. They would use the Jeep, and we would wait with our strange non-pack members until the moon phased away in the early morning.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"Leah!"

Emily Uley flung herself into her cousins arms violently, and the moment that Leah Clearwater got over being greeted by someone who was _not_ her imprint and subsequently someone who was _supposed_ to be all the way in La Push; the moment Leah got over both these things and wound her arms around Emily...

Emily Uley began to cry torrents of tears, shaking in the She-Wolf's arms and emitting unintelligible words. By this time, Embry had established that there was neither a vampire, a half breed nor a... _Charles_ in the apartment and he stood unsure in the kitchen, watching Emily's distress and Leah's confusion (that was fast turning into an odd pitying type of irritation).

"Emily..." Leah warned before taking in a slow breath and trying for a second, less aggressive and tetchy "Emily, please calm down"  
"Lee..." Emily sobbed, pushing herself out of Leah's loose grip and trying to wipe her tears away with her fingers before giving up completely and just using the hem of her blouse. Embry politely looked away as she lifted the blouse to her face, noting that the outside world was too quiet and he thought he smelt distant smoke...

"Where is Charles?" Leah asked, her voice wavering on 'Charles'.

"'Left" Emily managed, shaking her head and starting a fresh river of tears, her eyes bright and burning. "Leah..." she managed "Sam... Gone. They took... they took..."  
"Emily, you have to calm down..." Leah said softly, holding Emily's shoulder's carefully. "Take a breath... and tell me everything"

So Emily took a breath, calmed herself with the reminder that she was to save her son-her piece of Sam.

"They came, they killed Sam and took my son" her voice was deceptively hard-a transformation from her earlier bubbling not two seconds ago and it left both Embry and Leah with whiplash.

"Who?" it was Embry who asked while Leah stared at her cousin in horror.

"The Volturi" Emily said, her face twisting into undiluted hate. "Bella saved me" she said this with the same tone of loathing, no graciousness spared to the fact that Bella Swan had saved her life.

"We just massacred... them..." Embry began but his mind was still trying to comprehend Emily's words. The words that had drawn a picture of a world where Sam Uley no longer existed-the man who had been his first Alpha and once, his suspected brother.

"Jane?" Emily asked softly, hopefully.

"Not Jane" Leah managed, her heart squeezing and releasing painfully. Her mind suddenly bombarded with long lost memories of Sam and her, once... before everything. She thought she cared in that second, she thought she remembered the love as sweet as she thought it had tasted then...

But the realisation that the invincible hard-headed black wolf was gone, made her realise how tangible death was... and how far away her imprint had to be, from the deep hollow tugging in her heart.

"Charles?" Leah rasped, her eyes shining with tears that she would not permit to fall-eyes iridescent from the remnants of the wolf, which all the Shapeshifters carried in their human form. Emily blinked her own lingering tears away and took a breath, suddenly afraid of Leah-afraid of Leah's reaction to her words.

"He left for... Edward" Emily said "For the... diner, Charles said. All of them left"

"All of them?" Embry asked, thinking back to his own brother while Leah began to blur, heat coursing through her. She spared Emily one look before saying with effort "Stay Here" and bolting out of the apartment.

"Leah?" Emily whispered, her hand reaching out to her long gone cousin.

"Emily, have they all left for town?" Embry asked sternly-that memory of Jake staring up at the little room of the farmhouse and wistfully wondering on Renesme and his son, etched in Embry's mind. Emily nodded and as Embry made a move to leave, she yelped.

"I am not staying!" Emily cried. "You can't... I need to come. My son, Embry...! They took him...!"

"We'll come back, in the morning... I promise" Embry whispered, backing out of the apartment "Whatever you do, stay here. Up here, in this apartment... a couple of floors above ground. You'll be safe from things lurking..."  
"Embry..." Emily tried again, but he was gone; running down the stairs until they turned into rubble and claw marks from Leah's abrupt phase. He joined her in the wolf link, following her scent into town with the pack joining them telepathically... and the three rabid wolves in tow.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The town had always been quiet after dark.

But on this night, the darkness was the quiet and any light was as loud as thunder. There was not a street light, not a glimmer of headlights from passing cars or a flash from the light of a cell phone let alone street lights or robots... and to lesser eyes, it would have been the worst power outage to hit a small town like this one.

But the wolves could see through the darkness, they could hear through its quietness too... and blood and bodies lay on the roads, buildings chipped and marked by jagged claws.

A supernatural war had happened in the town centre, and levelled the perimeter that housed the little diner, the bookshop and the flower shop and the bodies laying in the wake of this chaos...

_Human..._ Leah hated how relieved her tone was. She cringed, looking away from the red and flesh-berating herself for ever finding marble limbs disgusting in the face of crimson life. But it wasn't disgusting... At least not in the same sense and sentiment... this was...

_Heartbreaking..._Embry agreed. _No human should be a part of this..._

He stood still beside her, much bigger and muscled-more grave than she was in her panic. She was certain if Charles had been... killed(she had to be brave to think it and she _was _brave), her own life would just as instantaneously have ended. Her heart would have imploded and her soul would have drifted upward to join his.

They could hear the rest of the pack approaching, the same question in all the wolves' minds; how many humans were left alive in all of this...? But that was quickly trumped by the unwanted question on how many _vampires_ had survived? After all, they had left their small community in La Push to _another_ family-whether they were strong enough to accept the fact now-but the Cullens were a part of them.

_We have to find out..._ Jake murmured, his mind racing and thoughts fighting to stay focused. Behind him, the three werewolves followed silently and detached for a few seconds before skipping ahead into the rubble and wreckage in excitement-_vampires_, the pack thought again, remembering the almost instantaneous reaction the three beasts gave towards the Volturi Guard.

They waited for a second-anticipating a blurred reaction to the mindless beasts, but when none came Jacob intervened. He pushed and shoved Dominic away from the concrete that was once the diner, growling at him until he backed away and retreated to the edge...

Leaving a silently munching Matthew a few feet away.

_Leah..._ Jake sighed, ignoring Matthew in favour of removing rubble, car fragments.. and small body parts... carefully, sniffing his excavation points.

Leah and Embry growled at Matthew, pushing at him but he would not budge, growling back at them... until, they both smelt the familiarity of the vampire scent that had Matthew's undivided attention.

_Jacob!_ Leah hissed and the entire pack mind was hit with Esme Cullen's scent. Jacob immediately froze as he got a play by play of Matthew over the point where Esme's scent was, from every pack mind... followed by Leah's replay of Matthew's chewing _content_ self.

Werewolves may be vile mindless beasts, governed by violence... but the Quileute wolves had long been of the _rage_ of the _heart_. While the pack reeled from the horror of the situation (the other two werewolves were not concerned, did not care nor did they have the mental capacity to understand what their third comrade had just done-albeit to a being that had been long dead _completely_), Jacob Black felt an anger and a wrath that he had never thought would consume him so soon and without the imprint and for a being he only thought of in passing.

But the inferno of the emotion and its intensity gave birth to the memory of how Esme Cullen had been like a mother to him once, and he was certain on numerous occasions before-whether her remembered those moments or not...

_Jake..._ the voices were all warning him, but unless one of them had the power to strip him of his freewill... he would see the frenzy of his untameable fury through.

And he did, and before the moon had disappeared... and before his _entire _pack could manage to subdue him (or was it that he had had enough and didn't mind stumbling away from the body bloodied and drunk on murder)...

Matthew Delong, after dying a human and being born again a werewolf...

Died a werewolf, and was denied burial as he turned back to his human form and would only find solace in being counted that morning light as a _tattered_ member of the thousands of human collateral of the vague chaos that had befallen the little town.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The vans that sped up the narrow barely used highway were many, white vehicles with satellites on their roofs and eager news reporters seated in shot gun reciting their introductions for their News Channels. Somehow, they paid no attention to the first house, seated deep on a plot, just after the 'Welcome' sign...

It was a little farmhouse after all, far away from any... _dangerous_ excitement. It wasn't like there was anything there... only burning bits of _stuff _that smelt putridly sweet to some...

"Get those vultures away from here!" hissed the Marshall from Hingley, a town a few hours' drive from the Unfortunate Little Town. He was matured, with lines etched on his face that gave him a disagreeable look but he personally did not believe he was too old for his line of work. He wore his uniform proudly, his eyes were infinitely hard and cold but his today his insides twisted from the several hours of excavating his team and the added new 'bullying' members of the FBI had been preoccupied with.

They were still trying to group guts, hands, limbs and heads together... trying to find if anyone survived the disaster, if anyone was under the rubble, crumpled in a car... trying to make sense of the claw marks on the debris and marking on cars and corpses alike...

But all the FBI offered was an unfortunate 'Earthquake' that had located itself in a single digit square radius, and felt pity on the outer skirts of the town and residential areas that were unharmed save for a few other claw marks running along the face of the buildings). The Marshall from Hingley had asked if this magical Earthquake "..had Claws and Teeth?" before spitting by the shiny shoes of the FBI agent who had been spewing this... _information_ readily to him.

"Oh Goody" the Marshall grumbled to one of his own officers "The army done got itself involved"

"I wonder what they are going to tell the reporters to say" his officer murmured, watching as the tankers rolled ostentatiously past their little Jeeps.

"An unfortunate natural disaster hit this little good for nothing town in the dead of night, of course" the Marshall spat on the ground and scowled further "But if you ask me... this ain't nothing natural"  
"Yeah..." his officer agreed absently "This just has to be the hand of God"

"You think this is a Sodom and Gomorrah situation?" the Marshall chuckled and his officer nodded his head vigorously "You do realise that makes us Gomorrah you idiot?"

"Err..."  
"Leave God out of this and your ignorance will be shed"

"Who do you think it is, then?"

"Why..." the Marshall placed his hands on his hips, surveying the destruction that saw a whole block of buildings crumbled and pulled apart above the heads of civilian folk, cars smashed and ripped to scrap metal "It has got to be Aliens. Yep, that's what it is... why else would them preppy FBI be involved?"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Edward Cullen, in all his years and decades...

Had never imagined a scenario where Carlisle Cullen would liberate his compassion and purge himself of his humanity. He had always thought that in the instance of immense internal upheaval, his father would become enclosed by his emotions and prisoner to every heartbreak...

But not this.

Never this.

"Please... father...!" Edward tried again, but Carlisle remained unmoved by his pleas. Carlisle Cullen remained emotionless, chained to the walls of the clean laboratory in the same position he had been for three days now... his expression uncaring, his eyes flat black and stone, his lips set in a hard line, his torso sporting numerous slashes from his efforts to save his beloved and Carlisle's mind...

"Father!" Edward cried but it was Charles Black who responded as he groaned into Edward's mind for the first time since they had been successfully captured by the humans . Edward abruptly stopped all his pleas and begging, reeling from a strange sense of relief mingling with the grief of his dead immortal mother.

_Charles? _Edward whispered and Charles groaned again, moaning about a headache and being medicated. Edward saw from his grandson's mind, the image of burning light as he opened his eyes for the first time in three days and saw his mother trapped in a tank, staring desperately back at him with her hands pressed against the glass, floating eerily in the waters.

"Alive" Edward breathed as the mental link broke off. "They are alive, Carlisle... Renesme and Charles-I knew the human's had no intention of giving them to Joham!"

No response, no movement came from Carlisle.

"Carlisle..." Edward cried afresh "I need you!"

He could hear the footsteps, but not a thought came from the humans. They wore those little earpieces that disrupted his telepathic abilities... but he knew his gift was only disrupted as far as his own body's depletion of Charles blood from his system. If his eyes were purple, he could push past their little gadgets...

He didn't care for them with any regard. He was glad he was chained by the treated shackles to the walls... he would have ripped every throat out and gorged on their blood... he was crying silently, and dryly. They were murmuring amongst themselves, discussing how different Edward and Carlisle were to the red eyed vampires...

Discussing the oddity that was Carlisle going into such physical shock...

"Arrange the samples and prep the vampires for interrogation..." a male voice murmured "I have been called back to that _fucking_ town. Those half breeds should not have antagonised the situation past what we had budgeted for..."

"Where there _other_ survivors?!" a female voice asked desperately and Edward ceased his cries, his chest locking and twisting abruptly. He knew the voice, he had wondered on it for so long...

"You better get things organised and arrange the samples woman!" the male voice repeated impatiently "When Dr George gets here... he won't be impressed with your disorganisation. You wanted out of the _field_ and into the lab work... now do the goddamned lab work Ms Weber!"

"But... the... wolves..."  
"_Werewolves_ Ms Weber" the voice corrected in the same impatient manner before growling "Terminology! We don't care about _werewolves... _you know that. They are harmless... to us!"  
"Yes, of course" Ms Weber agreed begrudgingly. "I apologise, Dr Waldwick... it's just..."  
"The excitement?" Dr Waldwick said, dropping his impatience suddenly. "A real live vampire... and I know all about your relationship with the Ms Swan. Don't worry, she is being moved here for cross analysis..."  
"Yes" Ms Weber's voice was void of excitement to this news.

"Right" Dr Waldwick sighed walking out of the laboratory with two other men tailing him "I have a long drive ahead... the FBI needs scientific proof to back up the story... stupid reporters always make everything more difficult..."

The electric door shut with a whoosh-that managed to cause Ms Weber to jump, regardless of her vicious training in the 'field'-and Edward Cullen lifted his head up immediately. She was facing away from him, staring at the file with Renesme Cullen's name on it and refusing to acknowledge the fire in her heart, refusing to look back at Edward.

There were cameras. She was wearing the goddamned 'earpiece' and there was no way she could take it off with the cameras, there was no way she could look at Edward with the cameras and there was no way to know if Edward could tell he had to 'not know her' in this moment...

But he was always most intuitive... wasn't that how he got his gift in vampirism?

"Miss..." Edward whispered and her heart stuttered, her hands gripping the clipboard tightly. Her hands were sweating already, her heart breaking all over again (from the moment they had told her that 'they had caught them' and she had realised that 'them' wasn't Isabella and Jane with the rest of the Volturi but 'them' had been Isabella... with vampires Angela loved so thoroughly).

She had been asked how far she would go for revenge.

"This is too far... right over the edge" she whispered to herself and Edward sighed from behind her, the chains he was held by clinking lightly.

"Miss Weaver" he said louder and she dropped the clipboard at the clear sound of his voice.

"What...?" she turned around and their eyes met-his black ones to her brown ones, a brown that was surrounded by red tinged white from crying that first night the vampires had been brought to the base.

"It is... Miss Weaver... is it not?" he asked cordially.

"Yes" she said and then laughed manically before saying shakily "I mean... no. It's Ms Weber"  
"Ms Weber" Edward said thoughtfully "Yes, that is more fitting"

"Ms Angela Weber" Angela murmured "And I will be taking care of you. Annabelle Erickson is taking care of... Renesme and Charles..." it's too personal she thought, and quickly added "Renesme and Charles Black"  
"No, Renesme Cullen and Charles Black" Edward smiled-a painful dejected smile.

"You haven't committed any crimes" Angela said abruptly and then sighed, realising that this was a statement and not a question like it should be... "You haven't committed any crimes against humanity, I see by the... records"  
"I try to be good"

"None of you have committed crimes..." Angela's eyes drifted to an immobile Carlisle before glancing at her clipboard on the ground, with Renesme's name written in bold black at the top "...oh"

"Oh indeed" Edward sighed, dropping his head down and hiding his face from Angela. "And of the wolves... you truly know nothing, Ms Weber?"  
"If they were spotted, they would have been brought here too" Angela said "But Lorraine was in charge of that, and she is very goal oriented and not one for distractions. If she thinks something is unnecessary... then it is _truly_ unnecessary. Wolves... we like to call them werewolves in these parts"

"Hmm, then hope is alive"  
"Vampires have no hope" Angela said "They want only for _blood_"

"There are many things that vampires want for... outside of blood" Edward said softly "Many things, and for some... one _greater_ thing. And when that one thing is lost... we _crumble_" Edward looked over to his father, to a silent Carlisle "When that one love is lost, we cease to exist"

"Es..." Angela began and Edward growled at her violently and she closed her mouth immediately-a look that resembled fear on her face.

"Ms Weber, Angela... you are truly an Angel" Edward said quickly "I would hate to see you in any sort of _hell_"

"I should leave" she mumbled "I'll wait for... Doctor... somewhere else"  
"Yes, I do agree" he whispered, watching as she clumsily picked her clipboard up with the file on his daughter, watching as she backed out of the laboratory hastily and uncoordinatedly "You should leave"

The door shut, and Edward Cullen resumed his pleas for his father to come back to him from the chasm of Carlisle's own dark mind-begging, pleading, blackmailing... all in the name of the dead Esme Cullen.

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**I wonder if you theorised to this point... I would love to know you theories! lol. c u next time, and remember how much I looove to hear your thoughts on things!**

Now that I am on holiday, you'll have my undivided attentions


	26. A Billion Worlds

**Authors Note: a little suggestion, a recap on the chapter 'The Marvelous Erikson's' would be greatly beneficial before reading this chapter.**

**A BILLION WORLDS**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

They say the number of worlds living on earth, is the exact same number as the population of conscious beings walking the earth. The truth behind this is as simple as _perception_. The world is not viewed the same; be it in colour, shape and size, atmosphere, aura... etc-the world is not viewed the same by any two conscious beings.

It may be viewed similarly, but _never_ the same.

And in this, each conscious being resides in a world so different from the next.

And in this... it can be said, that on a single planet there are billions of world moving side by side.

With this; why could there not be entire worlds living side by side-never connecting and some oblivious of the other-but so close... so impossibly close that the only thing separating them was a window in the sky?

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Annabelle Erikson had never been so far from home. In actuality, Annabelle Erikson had never _left _the town of Malwood before (save for that brief attempt she made with her beloved Matthew Delong to escape the oppressive nature of her family so they could be together... but the only good that did was it sent her mother into a deeper illness).

Annabelle had always thought that the one thing that was keeping her imprisoned in Malwood was her tyrannical father but when her mother-poor lovely Anna Erikson had died, she realised that the only thing that was keeping her locked away in the mansion, hidden in the woods, was in fact... her own _self_.

The moment her mother had died, the moment Annabelle had cleared her mind enough past the grief... she realised that since Dominic, her strange quiet brother, had disappeared, she truly had no shackles left on her. She had nothing that could wheedle its way into her heart and chain her to the grand marble floor of the dreaded Erikson Manor.

Her father wasn't obligated to pretend to care about her wellbeing any longer. He could turn his attentions fully to the many scampering little girls moving about their house under the guise of being 'house cleaners' and 'maids'.

She thought she was brave but what she truly was feeling was fear. She was being silly of course; her faith and sole purpose was that she would find Matthew and live happily ever after...

But the world that Annabelle Erikson lived in was filled with grey cold shades and simple wants and needs-so simple that these wants and need tended to be painfully naive. She didn't understand money although she came from a wealthy family and was aware of this. She didn't understand the dangers of the world although it had been engrained in her mind to stay away from the woods of Malwood during the time of a full moon and to keep to herself (a quiet barely there child is a perfect child, she was told).

She may have been naive in the ways of the world due to living only in the world of Malwood... but she had her mother's shrewdness in her.

She knew that she had answered the flabby man's questions correctly; she had spoken about the strange beasts that terrorized the woods of Malwood and she had lied _exquisitely_ about how they had wiped out her family.

Her description of the beasts came from what she had seen in her brother Dominic's private journal and little did she know that this description was exactly what the flabby man had been instructed to pay attention to when interviewing potential workers.

Annabelle personally didn't believe any of the things she had read in her brother's journal; stories of werewolves and a hunger for something elusive. She thought Dominic was strange from the moment she had been able to talk, and subsequently through their shared lives she had thought he was mostly insane and partially demon possessed. What she was after, was Matthew Delong. Matthew Delong had begun rambling about something similar; stories they had been told as children about the curse of the Noble families of Malwood and such...

"We have a very strict privacy clause..." the man said, pushing a yellow printed paper across the table to her. Annabelle kept her hands safely folded on her lap (refusing to touch anything the grimy man may have touched) and peeked over the paper. In big black letters on the top it read 'God's People United against the Evils of the World' and beneath it in smaller feint print was an overload of rules and regulations followed by a dotted line that she knew was meant for her signature.

"Will I get my own room, toiletries and three meals a day?" she asked softly after signing and the fat man laughed, his stomach pushing against the table with each belch like chuckle.

"This isn't a prison sweetie...!" he said breathlessly, wiping his eyes with the back of his fat hand "You get all _that_ and a pay! Yippee, eh? You'll be doing lab-work. All the employees who have first hand interaction with the _supernatural_ do lab-work. Its good pay... but I don't envy you all the _freaks _you probably have to deal with"

"But I get my own room?" Annabelle insisted "I don't do well with... _commoners_"

"You are worried about the commoners and not the demons?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I have my bible" Annabelle said in the same stiff monotonous tone that had reminded a certain maid once, of a bronze haired beauty. "What can prevail when you walk with the Holy Spirit in your heart?"

"I don't know... I just do the Human Resources work, sweetie" the man said indifferently "It's you I should be asking _that_..."

He pressed a button on his printer and waited for a series of pages to roll out of the machine, before gathering them and stapling them together and handing them to Annabelle "The most I have seen sweetie..."

"Please call me Annabelle" Annabelle cut him sharply but the man only rolled his eyes impatiently.

"It won't matter kid, we aren't going to meet again... unless it's to fire you. But you look like a good law abiding citizen..." he leaned back in his chair "I was saying..." he reached over the table for his donut and said with a mouth full of the treat "The most I have seen is mole coming out of the ground and I thought that was creepy enough. Vampires, werewolves and ghosts and tooth fairies... hmm, it's all kooky to me but hey; pay is good and I don't have to have my world disrupted. I don't want to know, I don't want to see... I'll leave it to you _lucky_ believers"

"Surely you need to believe _some_ part of it in order to hire the right people?" Annabelle asked.

"Who says I do the hiring in the end..." he leaned forward conspiratorially and winked at her "I do the talking... and I only ask what they tell me to ask, sweetie"

"Annabelle" Annabelle breathed wearily and he rolled his eyes once more.

"The important part isn't the believing" the man shouted out to her as she walked out of his office, clutching the file and her expensive leather bag-on her way to do what she thought would be 'government work' "It's the 'keeping-your-mouth-shut' that is _truly important_!"

Xx~xx~xX

It was the smallest room she had ever been in. She thought it was about the same size as a broom closet at the manor. The bed, the dresser and the little table with the chair took up so much space that the remainder of floor space was enough for her to pivot from bed, dresser, table and back. There was a toilet but no shower.

"Communal showers" she whispered, recalling what she had read on her employee's package. She closed her eyes and shuddered before throwing herself theatrically onto her new tiny single bed and letting a torrent of tears flow.

She didn't find it strange that the thing to bring her to tears wasn't the gruelling escape from Malwood, the death of her beloved mother, the shunning she had received from her father, the disappearance of her brother and lover... but the prospect of _communal showers._

This, was horrific in Annabelle's world. This, was a good cause for a good three hour cry followed by a dreamless nap.

When she woke up, she didn't remember what had brought her to tears and busied herself with tying and untying her hair until she got the bun just right and tight enough that she would have a headache by the end of the day.

Xx~xx~xX

The first week of her employment was spent in a 'training' programme were a group of her fellow employees and herself were taught explicitly about the computers and different programmes and the methods of opening and closing the lab doors and _every_ escape route. She understood this; it reminded her of how her father and mother would walk her and Dominic through the manor and show them all the secret passages and hideouts in case of something 'unpleasant'.

Her idea of something unpleasant had always been their rival neighbours waging a war with them. Here, at her new and first workplace-at God's People etc..., something unpleasant seemed to entail a tsunami with a conscious and particular dislike for the Company Compound. There were safe rooms at every level with reinforced walls and thick computerised doors that were hidden to the naked eye.

She passed the training well-mostly due to her unwillingness to speak, and thus never question the many rules, regulations, warnings and strange requests they all got from 'God's People etc..' also known as 'The Company' to the general work force.

Xx~xx~xX

Within a month she had moved up and had been sent to work underground assisting the doctors and other strange jittery men with preparing the clean empty (reinforced, triple security and panic buttons at every surface) laboratories for something big and long awaited for.

She was walked through her training once more by her supervisor; no speaking to the specimens (this, Annabelle did find strange; specimens that spoke?), remember to go through all security steps entering and exiting the laboratories, do not discuss work outside laboratories, work in pairs (she didn't look forward to her new mystery co-worker at all; she didn't work well with others mostly because _they _found _her _as strange as their line of work) and always report to your supervisor about findings and such.

The only interaction to be given with specimens is that which is instructed.

This last point puzzled her but she gave it no second thought. They were not allowed to talk to specimens save for questions given by their supervisor... fair enough. Her only concern was the communal showers... she hoped for a promotion that would see her move from her current quarters.

In a week before the specimens arrived, she did get her promotion and moved rooms but when she entered her new room... she saw _two _single beds laying adjacent to each other. There was a shower, sure enough...

"I have to share?!" Annabelle cringed.

This was the first night she missed her luxurious lifestyle and elegant bathroom that was _all_ hers, back in Malwood at her wonderful Erikson Manor. By the morning light, she had decided her new roommate would be unbearable; someone utterly disgusting and filthy with little to no etiquette and such an inaudible accent that they would need to resort to sign language to communicate (this new roommate would also be illiterate so there would be no point in leaving little notes to communicate all the absurdities they would be inflicting on poor Annabelle).

When Angela Weber arrived in the room, exhausted from crying in hidden corners and toilets after seeing Edward and Carlisle Cullen chained up in the laboratory in place of Isabella Swan as she had expected and been told...

She met a very grumpy and stiff lipped Annabelle, who greeted her with a "Stay on your side of the room and don't touch my personal belonging" and said goodnight with an "I will shower first every day... you may go in only _after_ me and that includes all bodily movements!"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"He isn't harmed" Leah said firmly. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest and she was giving a good impression of someone who was cold in the freezing night as they stood in the silent forest. Of course she was not cold, not physically even though she wore nothing but a tank-top and shorts and stood barefoot on the snow covered ground.

Jacob looked at her closely, willing her to look him in the eye and when she obliged him he sighed in relief. She was still sane. He didn't know what he was looking for but every time she turned her impatient scowl at him (at one point snapping at him that she wasn't unravelling and turning into vegetable any time soon so he could calm down) his every muscle would relax.

"How would you know... if he... was... ha-a-a..." Dominic chattered before sneezing and giving up on talking all together. He sat in a mound of blankets, Katherine fast asleep at his side and Seth in wolf form curled partially around them. The sandy wolf kept his tail over the little mound by Dominic's side (Katherine hidden beneath blankets) and his blazing eyes would occasionally flicker in the distance at hidden things moving in the night.

"I just would" Leah sighed. "Just like you would too, Jake?"

"Yeah, I think I would too" Jake agreed. Both alpha and beta didn't look back at Dominic as they said this, standing rigidly staring out into the night, past the trees and soft falling snow. "Ever since he..." Jacob didn't finish his sentence and simply touched the scar on his arm.

He thought briefly about Renesme. He couldn't bring himself to dwell on her longer than a few seconds. She was stubborn, she was persistent and yet... incredibly naive. Something about her suggested she didn't care to take care of herself... but he knew she was more than capable of taking care of Charles and in that he believed she would be _forced_ to take care of herself.

She had no qualms about sacrificing her own safety for that of those she loved... no problem at all. She relied too much on her immortality and durability but she still had a beating heart, she still had blood pumping in her veins... she still needed her head to be attached to her neck.

"Embry is back" Jacob said gruffly turning around and skipping easily over the snow before stopping abruptly "Lee...?"

"Not going anywhere, Jake" Leah breathed, her hot breath clouding in front of her before disappearing. "Go with Embry... I'll make sure Billy and Collin wake up in time for patrolling our little perimeter and I will be sure to keep the currently human members of our pack warm and living"

"Uh, okay... I was just going to say that Embry brought back a deer if you want to... uhm, eat" Jake mumbled.

"Oh" Leah sighed. "By eat you mean... skin it and cook it for our human werewolves?"

"I am right... right... right..." Dominic stuttered before he managed to finish in a triumphant "Here!"

"I think I'll just let Seth do that" Leah turned back to the dark mass of woods, shrugging her shoulders indifferently "What with him being imprinted to a werewolf"

The sandy wolf huffed but didn't grumble too much, very much aware that he was blessed that night to have _his imprint _within sights and safe by his side. Jacob gave Leah one last concerned look before skipping into the darkness and stepping out of the shadows as the large russet wolf; blazing brown-amber eyes burning like torches through the night. He joined Embry in the forest, weaving through trees silently besides the size of both of them and searching for anything familiarly sweet and bleach-like to lead them to the other half of their missing pack.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Had this been what she had feared all along since her birth, since her brief years as a child and the chaos that was her transition into womanhood...? Had this not been the bogeyman when she thought of the Volturi and Aro? This one thing...?

This _very_ thing...?

To be locked away like the rarest of living samples? To be in a laboratory, caged and stripped bare all the way to her unnatural pale dolomite skin? To have all those strange eyes staring up at her in awe...?

All those human eyes staring at her in a disgusted wonder...?

No, she had never anticipated that her captors would be human, the very thought that fragile breakable humans _could _in fact capture her was absurdity at its highest form! But here she was, and there they were at the other side of her thick impenetrable glass barrier-watching her naked form drifting in the waters with not a care on whether she could breathe or not.

Not a care for the pain she was going through with water filled lungs, no oxygen and an adamantly living body in a situation that would call for it to be dead and still. She blinked after a minute and looked over to Charles. He wouldn't look over at her of course; she was naked and in such a pitiful state-a mermaid with feet. He stood in his own specialised cage (the humans seemed to have done their homework thoroughly, but not thoroughly enough when it came to the enigmatic offspring of a half vampire and what they thought to be a _werewolf_), with its silver reinforced bars, a comfy bed and a monitor.

She knew they thought Charles was more human and that was why he was treated with a little more... humanity. He was truly more human, but what they didn't know was that it was a subjective state. She closed her eyes and saw the death of Esme. She opened them and remembered her Papa being dragged away, Carlisle willingly and indifferently being herded from them...

Charles kicking and screaming to no avail.

And the last sound of her freedom; a howl that had not belonged to a werewolf but a wolf, but _they _didn't know _that_.

The men in lab coats moved about, writing things down, looking up at her and _ignoring_ Charles. Renesme thought they may have been instructed not to interact with Charles. She, her self, gave them no reaction save for her indifferent floating and occasional blinking. They were checking her heart she was sure-the irregularity of the muscle and how it forced itself to operate against all that was natural.

The big white sliding door opened and as she watched the two women walk through it before it closed automatically, as she watched the first taller woman with a high tight bun on her head walk over to the furthest desk with the clipboards... as she watched this and then subsequently the second shorter bespectacled woman...

Renesme gave her first movement after _days_ of absent floating in her water tank of a cage.

Her hand shot up and pressed firmly on the glass, eyes wide and unbelieving and mouth set in a perfect 'oh' and instead the word that she did want to form and the word that she would have mouthed had she not had her gift of physical thought projection (and if she had mouthed this word she would have put its owner's life in serious jeopardy)...

This word resounded into her mind and was pushed into her palm but was lost and never mentally heard due to the glass her palm was pressed against. The word 'Angela' and the memories that accompanied the word filled her mind and spread to her hand but they never did reach their intended target.

Although Angela Weber had no chance of being able to hear Renesme's desperate thought due to being uninterestingly human and utterly ungifted-something about having lived with the supernatural gave her a sort of sixth sense that saw her turn her eyes up to the strange tank connected to wires and monitors-and her eyes met the wide brown _eerie glassy _eyes of Renesme Cullen.

Angela froze briefly, jerking into a standstill with her clipboard in hand before averting her eyes and forcing out a cough and allowing Annabelle to lead her forward and show her what was expected from them for that day.

Angela never glanced over at the strange thin man with bronze shabby hair in the cage, she never again looked up at Renesme floating naked in the water and instead, Angela forced her body to move and react as mechanically as her partner, Annabelle, did effortlessly.

The men in lab coats recorded Renesme's sudden movement vigorously, oblivious to their specimens retreat into herself after the little exertion of energy. Renesme resumed her floating and any semblance of hope died with Angela's refusal to acknowledge her existence in that water filled cage.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"I think this is a better arrangement in fact..." Annabelle was saying, wiping her hair vigorously with her towel. She didn't really care that Angela was turned away from her, she didn't care that Angela hadn't said two words to her and responded to everything with terse nods and controlled pursing of the lips. What she liked was Angela's silence and Angela's compliance to her rules... as well as Angela's willingness to allow Annabelle to lead their duo efforts in the lab.

"I'll shower in the evening and then you can shower in the mornings?" Annabelle offered sitting at the edge of her bed "But I still want to use the toilet first!"

"Hmm" the sound came from Angela, Annabelle realised after a second. She took it as acceptance to her new rules.

"Was that your first time in the lab?" Annabelle asked and then in a softer tone she added "It wasn't mine... but it was my first time seeing the... specimens"

Angela responded with silence. Annabelle didn't mind.

"That man..." Annabelle continued in the same soft manner, for she was aware she was breaking one of the rules; they were not to discuss lab work outside of the lab. But Annabelle was shrewd and she knew there were no surveillance devices in the first 'Order's' rooms. They were, after all, the most proficient at keeping silent about the happenings in 'The Company'.

"That man..." Annabelle said mostly to herself-she had been practically speaking to herself since Angela moved in with her. She hadn't realised that with a silent Angela she had spoken more than she had ever spoken with another individual. "He reminds me... of Dominic. I have a brother, you see... who gets ill sometimes... coincidentally every full moon. I left that part out in my interview, of course. Dominic was as skinny as that man... with eyes just as beautiful and terrifying except Dominic's eyes are greyish blue and not green"

Angela had never met Dominic Erikson and didn't care for Annabelle's life-story.

"Anyway, my father suspects he ran away with the help" Annabelle snorted "What was her name... Leah she had said? Dreadful thing... couldn't clean a spoon to save her life..."

Angela had however, met a 'Leah' in her lifetime and she did care for the name and everything to do it with it... especially of Jacob Black-the boyish man who reminded her of her younger brothers and was incapable of getting along with Renesme Cullen. The one thing Angela had learnt since working for 'The Company' was that there was no such thing as coincidences...

"What did she look like?" Angela sat upright rapidly, sniffling and wiping her nose. Annabelle looked at her startled-seemingly to have forgotten that the person she had been having a monologue with for hours on end was not, in fact, mute or a mobile manikin. Angela's eyes were puffy and red but the sudden light in them terrified Annabelle.

"What did this... Leah... look like?" Angela asked, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and looking intently at Annabelle. "Answer me?!" Angela hissed impatiently.

"Tall pretty thing..." Annabelle continued her story suddenly, twirling her hand to convey how unimportant this fact was "Daddy liked her, I could tell and..."

"I don't care about your rich family and fucked up upbringing!" Angela snapped "Tell me what Leah looked like...?"  
"Indian" Annabelle frowned in offence, deciding immediately that her roommate was everything she feared except for being overweight "You know, red Indian..."

"Quileute" Angela said absently, life and hope returning to her eyes that the hearty pack from La Push were out there truly, and that she could in fact manage to free the Cullens from the evil anti-supernatural hell they had been imprisoned in... if she could but get the coordinates of their location to Leah or Jacob.

"Bless you" Annabelle replied. She didn't continue her story of how her brother had committed the same crime she had against her family; attempting to run off with the help (except of course, in this case it seems that Dominic had indeed _managed _to run off with the help and thoroughly disrupt their father's blood pressure) but mused over the strange beautiful girl in the water tank.

Annabelle wondered if the girl was a mermaid and the doctors were waiting for her to show her fin. She tried to obsess over the girl and her glassy eyes and white skin... but her thoughts kept swerving back to the thin man and _his_ eyes, the man who reminded her of her brother.

She wished she hadn't looked at him, that she hadn't fallen into his eyes and that it hadn't seemed like he could see right into her soul.

She fell asleep thinking of the bronze haired man and those _green eyes_, and as a result her dreams were filled with him and in those dreams he told her his name (she would forget it when she awoke) and that he had seen her brother Dominic and Dominic was safe.

"_I could be your friend, Annabelle_" he had said to her, reaching a hand across to her. He wasn't in the cage with its silver bars-but this was a dream and surely there was no harm in them sitting in a garden with peach trees around them... _"Just trust me and let me in...?"_

"_Let you in... to where?"_ she asked him, tempted to touch his hand and wondering how the skin felt. He was thin, impossibly so... but he was beautiful too. Like the floating girl in the tank... they looked so alike...

He was ill almost just like Dominic, and she suspected if she found the bronze haired man's journal like she had done so with her brother; he would probably complain about a hunger for something elusive, too.

"_Into your mind"_ he smiled sadly. _"Let me in... and keep me in. I want to know all about your world, Annabelle... how beautiful it is. Won't you keep me in your world?"_

Why not? It was _her _world, after all. So she touched his hand and it was soft and lovely and they walked together in the garden, birds singing and Annabelle could almost smell the peaches... she wondered if he was looking for something in _her _garden. But that was impossible-it was her garden and only she knew were everything was, surely?

So they walked through it and she told him a story at a time each night she dreamt, of her wonderful world and he listened intently while holding her hand with the promise that he would never let it go.

And every morning, she would awake... and she would never tell a soul of her dreams. Every morning, she would awake and not remember his name... and when she went into the lab, she allowed herself a second to glance at him and see those eyes...

And every time their eyes met in that short moment she allowed in the laboratory, Annabelle was unsure if he dreamt the same dream too.

A part of her hoped he did dream her dream...

And a part of her was deathly afraid if he did indeed.

Xx~xx~xX

X

X

**Authors Note:**

**Reviews, thoughts on things and likes and dislikes are AlwaYs welcome!**

**There is a new villain in the works-scarier than anything the Cullen-WolfPack family has ever encountered... something to look forward to... or err, not look forward to?**

**I know Charles gift is not properly and firmly defined but I do hope we all get the general way it works with regards to whether he has venom in his system and such...**

**See you soon, seeing as how I am on holiday. Yay!**

**XX**

**TJ **


	27. Cages

**CAGES**

**x**

**CHARLES EDWARD BLACK**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

It would be only a matter of days before Mother ran out of oxygen and went into a comma.

What was sick about everything was the fact that that was exactly what they were waiting for... their whole experiment was simply to find out how long a hybrid could survive when deprived of air. How long could a hybrid travel through the ocean? How long could hybrid skin resist the effects of being in water for too long...?

"And you think we are the animals!?" I hissed but of course the man ignored me. I gripped the bars, trying to push all my strength in them like I had been doing for countless days but of course it all amounted to disappointment. There was no hope of me bending the bars if they had been specifically designed for a werewolf; even a vampire would have a hard time bending these. But I was sure Emmett would have succeeded in the end-vampires had nothing but eternal endurance and they would never tire_._

"We are the evil ones... apparently!" I yelled but I knew I was talking to myself. There was no use in shouting it out telepathically-they all wore the earpieces. I had been lucky with Annabelle Erikson when she had entered the laboratory without an earpiece that first day... I had been so _lucky _that she was desperately lonely and pathetically under loved; so much so that she willingly let me into her mind and kept me there.

I couldn't touch her mind when she was wearing the earpiece, and after her faux pas of _forgetting _to put it on, she had been most vigilant about remembering the thing. But it was done, she had established a mental link with me and I had my connection to a world outside of my cage.

I was working up to it, praying that I would somehow and sometime soon, begin to produce my own venom and then... my telepathy would be stronger. I would be able to 'suggest' things to Annabelle... little thoughts she would think were her own, and little actions she would carry out willingly enough.

I would be able to _control_ her.

I had lost both connections to Renesme and Edward but no matter. I was weak and it was expected and either way, if Edward were truly in trouble... I would know. Danger and physical harm was an instant telepathic magnifier.

The men (I had managed to distinguish between the laboratory assistance, cleaners, technicians and the actual doctors) set up the area for the doctors once they had managed to clean out Renesme's tank (without actually taking out the water but instead filtering in clean water). I watched them through an odium screen; I watched them look up at my mother, I watched them pretend to be indifferent to her beauty and naked form-and that hate trebled and magnified.

I would kill them all.

Seeing as how I was already a 'monster' in their eyes-it would come as no shock to them when I gouge out their eyes and throw their bodies in some cage filled with starved vampires. I would do it, and I would do it soon because it was not in my genetic make up to be prisoner to _anyone._

Xx~xx~xX

She came in with Angela as usual and as per usual, Angela was sure not to look at me. I couldn't tell whether she truly hated us or if it was an act. I didn't know her as well as I should; our interactions had been around my first recovery from venom addiction.

_Venom_...

I craved it. I wanted it. I didn't care about the other side of me it brought out; I wanted that beast. I wanted the violence and greed and apathy to the world (to the world, except for Leah...)

I fell to the ground with the simple thought of her. I was pathetic to them, I knew it; crouched in my corner and emaciated with an over grown beard and wild hair-cradling myself to keep from coming undone. Would the act of being away from her bring me to destruction when I had only just healed from being with her again, as brief as it had been...?

Could it? Would it? _Should_ it... that was the most important question, in the end-why should it end me? I wondered if she was in as much pain as I was-to feel that tug in your heart, that little alarm telling you that you are in the wrong part of the world. You are too far away from the true reason of your existence...

No, she would never! She was the strongest person I knew, and hadn't she said I was the strongest person _she _knew? There had to be truth to that. It _was _true.

I was strong.

I was a Black. I was a Cullen (ignoring my being part Swan...). I was the only one of my kind and why should that be a weakness simply because I was _undefined. _

"...two out of three you say?" the voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I recognised it; it was a doctor and thus the most important human in the laboratory. "Drain the tank, put her on a drip and keep her under"

I got up immediately and rushed to the bars. They ignored me as usual; three men immediately tampering with Renesme's tank, three others pressing and sliding things on their Ipads. She had no energy to move of course, saving as much oxygen as she could I guessed. In the end, they wheeled my mother out of the laboratory as I watched helplessly.

It was the first time I made eye contact with Angela and I almost looked away from her in disgust, still undecided on where she stood with the other humans and had stained her alliance with my family for something cheap and temporary.

"Edward is okay" she mouthed deliberately, immediately averting her eyes. "Renesme will be too" she began busying herself with writing on her clipboard, eyes firmly planted on her writing. "She is being moved in the same place as Edward. Carlisle..." she stopped her silent talking, looked up at me miserably and shook her head once.

I wanted to shout out to her what that meant? Where was my great grandfather? What was going on...? Did Esme survive...? But I understood the risk she had taken, carefully facing away from the cameras and pretending to be silently reading what she was writing.

I looked away from her, pushing my mind but the act left me gasping for breath. I wasn't strong enough... not in here, with all of them wearing the little earpieces. Not in here, with all of them conscious of their minds and subconsciously unwilling to let mental intruders in. In the night, when Annabelle was slumbering and unconcerned with any other world but that of her own...

I met her blue eyes, reminiscent of Dominic's ones except they were generic and plainly human. Annabelle's eyes widened and today, she didn't immediately look away. I recalled her question from the previous night; was I truly connected to her or was she only dreaming of me out of her concern for her brother?

She wanted a reaction. She wanted recognition. She wanted to know that she was not insane. She wanted to believe that she was not obsessed. She wanted to reaffirm to herself that Matthew Delong was her one love and her heart was not so fickle as to be intrigued by other prospects. She didn't want to think that she had an affinity towards the forbidden and of current, I was _entirely_ forbidden. She wanted to believe she was not as naive as her father had slurred she was. She wanted to believe that this adventure had been about true love and not simply her escape from her father.

I gave her nothing, scowling at her and turning away from the world to stare at the pure white wall. It didn't matter; not her, not this place, not the lab-workers I was going to kill...

I would burn it all to the ground and blow the ashes away.

Maybe this was the part of me that was distinctly Swan. My understanding that evil repays evil... and sometimes, revenge is the only cure.

No matter how selfish.

No matter how petty.

I would bring hell, and they would know me as Devil.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

_She had been doing it all wrong. The walls were not the sides of her prison she was meant to break open. _

_She stood solidly in the middle of her luxurious quarters-her over worked prison thanks to the generosity of Aro. Her feet were a little apart and her hands were fisted deliberately at her sides. She was glaring at the floor..._

_The walls would be reinforced, the door too-these were the things one thought of when it came to __**enclosures.**__ She needed to work on the floor-beneath her was a chamber with another prisoner but that prisoner wouldn't care for her aside from the prospect of freedom too. She had to hurry, Jasper was in Volterra... _

_He would be at the docks, by the sea... one they were in the ocean, there was no catching them. It would be done._

_She had to hurry... she had to break free, little nightingale... little psychic pixie..._

The vision ended, and Alice blinked her eyes rapidly. She looked at the wall she had been steadily applying pressure to for days over weeks. There was no breaking through the reinforcements. Jasper would be arriving soon...

She needed to dig a hole and forget about knocking the walls down.

The small vampire stood in the middle of her plush room, feet slightly apart and fingers curled to dainty titanium fists. She glared at the floor-how stupid had she been wasting time on walls when the ground beneath her was pliable and ready for destruction...

"I am coming" she whispered, reminded of her first vision of her beloved Jasper when she had waited patiently for him in that diner. "I was patient then, it's your turn this time... Mr Hale"

She coiled her muscles, tensed back and whacked deliberately at the concrete. It was a calculated blow and the only tell of it was the shuddering of the concrete slab. It would take her a day or so to break through. The floor wasn't reinforced like the walls... but it had been treated. The only problem was it was an after thought...

"If you are going to build a cage..." Alice tutted, reeling back and re-coiling her muscles, fists ready to deliver their blows to the lovely sparkling but now dented marble flooring "Make sure you lock _all the exits_!"

The escape would never have been successful until Jasper had located her. His gift, like Aro had pointed out, was most valuable as it disregarded all forms of telepathy and acted on every single being-regardless of supernatural genes or not. He would have slowed and stopped their pursuers and allowed for them to escape. It was up to her now, to meet her eternal lover.

"Cage me...?" she hissed, punching at the floor-she could do it all day until she succeeded. When had she ever tired in her immortality? She was a vampire... and a Cullen. "Some birds are meant to fly, dear Aro..."

Some birds are meant to be free.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The cabin was located in the woods in the perfect position. It was nestled by pine trees, its frame work relatively stable and sturdy and the surrounding perimeter cleared and immaculate. It had a chimney, it had a lovely porch and in it... there was a perfect old couple. Still in love and in the later stages of life, very much content.

Leah hated it with a passion, the moment she saw that perfect cabin in the woods. It symbolised too much... it reminded her of too many promises that would never be fulfilled it seemed...

"I can't believe you showed yourself to them!" she snapped her head towards Embry, eyes narrowed and filled with violence. "With everything that is going on... you went and showed yourself to humans?!"

"I didn't show anything..." Embry tried to remain calm but his temper had been trigger happy ever since they had found Matthew and Dominic and that had been for a _long time. _"I remained a wolf"

"You... remained..." Leah was shaking, hands fisted to her sides and skin crawling with rage.

"Shut it Clearwater" Jacob said calmly "Embry took a risk and good came out of it. We were being too safe..."

"We are supposed to be undetectable, that's the point, Black!"

"Clearwater, shut it" Jacob said in the same calmness but the reiteration carried in it no room for a second admonish. Leah remained silent, glaring at Embry and realising that in her time of self reflection and constantly listening to her own thoughts in case she contacted Charles... her post as Beta had been sort of taken over.

"If the vampires can have human familiars... why not us?" Embry murmured, failing not to hide his pleasure at Jacob siding with his accidental new acquaintances.

"They aren't familiars" Jacob said and Leah hated how mature and in command he was behaving. It was a silly petty hate but she couldn't get over how much had been covered while she had been brooding. "They agreed to help us... just luckily"

"No, what was lucky was that they remembered spotting a sad miserable giant _red _wolf so many years ago!" Leah snapped.

"Hey, I don't remember that" Jacob said sheepishly.

"Of course you don't, it was the time when you were the other Jacob!" Leah grumbled, folding her arms tightly over her chest "The time when you were more wolf..."

"Yeah I get it, Clearwater" Jacob muttered "Old _crazy_ Jake... anyway, if that didn't happen, we wouldn't have _their help._ Wasn't it you who said we needed a... guise or something?"  
"I don't like that you are involving them" she said softly.

"They sort of offered to help us" Embry said.

"You sort of asked them to help us" Leah clarified.

"You irritate me, you know that" Embry looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"Argh, I will leave you two to your bromance" Leah skipped deeper into the woods, oblivious to how her little comment would leave Embry in a state of shock and thus, when they went down to the cabin to talk to the couple and prepare the rest of the pack...

Embry would be silent and reserved; returning to his lone world where Jacob didn't know they were brothers and his worries that his mother may be dead now, and he didn't even know it.

Xx~xx~xX

"It's taking a risk... I know this" Jacob stood in the lounge, Mr and Mrs Granger had been sent into town and they had left all too willingly to buy _actual _human food for their new guests. They had been astonished to know that the red wolf they had seen was in fact, a man.

And after seeing Embry of course, they believed fully in what they had witnessed so many years ago and when the story of the desolate heartbroken wolf was spun out by Embry Call... they were believers. The question on whether the pack should be interacting with humans and thus putting them at risk, came into play over and over again.

But after the incident in the little town, that so half the town population wiped out; the pack agreed that it was not a matter of making contact with the supernatural... it was a matter of fate.

"But I have this feeling..." Jacob sighed, ignoring Leah's sulking (she was most unagreeable of current and the whole pack was trying to tolerate it-Dominic more willingly than most, and as a result it was Dominic who tended to converse with the She-wolf).

"I feel we should stay in one place for a little longer" Jacob finished finally, closing his eyes. Half of the pack agreed while the other half remained silent-Katherine silently drinking her tea while lodged between Leah and Dominic, still very much wary of Seth. Her eyes darted from every face in the room (avoiding Seth and his staring across from her) before falling over Jacob's face in veneration.

"It's a feeling and I know how dangerous staying in one place is..." Jacob sighed.

"But it would give Renesme a chance to find us!" Katherine said, her eyes large and pale thin face hopeful. Seth had an absent grin on his face-his eyes lit up every time Katherine dared to talk, and the young girl only dared to talk when it was to ask about Renesme Cullen.

"Something like that" Jacob said "Katherine, we have more... pack members. Family... out there..."

"There is Doctor Cullen..." Katherine nodded her head, remembering Carlisle treating her. She was sure not to mention Esme "...Charles..."

"There are others you haven't really seen" Seth said and Katherine immediately bowed her head and pressed her lips firmly on the rim of her tea cup, evidently to drink the tea for a long and unnecessary period of time and eject herself from all further conversations. Seth instantly sensed this and stopped talking, frowning and internally reprimanding himself for his abruptness.

"Yes, we need every one" Jacob said "Do we at least agree on this?"

"I guess..." Bradley sighed "But I don't mind swopping Leah for the new grandma..."

"Me too" Embry muttered, giving Leah a narrow glare, evidently not over her attempt to rain on his moment of glory.

"All I am saying..." Leah said carefully, deciding to take the mature route on things "We need to be careful. We should know our movements... we should know where we are going..."

"Leah had a point" Jacob agreed and then in a softer tone "And we all need to be understanding of everyone's situation"

To this, Embry scowled. No one would ever understand his 'situation'. All he could do was worker harder, better and lose himself in this. Or, he could double back to La Push and check on his mother...

"Embry, you'll lead Bradley, Collin and Billy through what we spoke about...? Not only looking out for vampires but recognising the werewolf human scents as well as picking out the characteristics of human familiars?" Jacob asked, looking intently at Embry "Don't worry about Katherine and Dominic with that... Leah, Seth and I will deal. I can count on you, eh bro?"

All Embry's return plans to La Push were cancelled instantaneously by the reminder that he and Jacob had begun reforming their old bond and of course, that simple term of affection 'bro'. He forgot his imagined being ostracized and nodded his head vigorously, a solemn expression removing his previous negativity.

"Right, Dominic and Katherine..." Jacob begun and Dominic cleared his throat. "Yes?" Jacob looked over to the skinny but noticeable more lively Dominic (he tried not to think about how Dominic's sudden better health had everything to do with his recent feast of vampire flesh).

"There was something that I was... thinking about.." Dominic begun. "Vampire... sustenance"

Every wolf in the room cringed back and Katherine paled.

"It's a reality" Dominic continued stiffly "It's my reality and if I am truly to be considered as part of your pack, Jacob Black..."

"If you considered yourself a part of my pack, you'll refer to me as Jake..." Jacob grumbled, the topic of vampires being chewed was only wanted if they chewed and _spat out _after... but being Alpha had its downfalls and he knew he had to charge on.

"Jake, Jacob or 'The Big Bad Wolf'" Bradley added and everyone grumbled minus Collin who whispered to his best friend "Or Goofy"

"Yes, err, Jacob" Dominic tried out and then continued seriously and with forced confidence "I was wondering if... you would consider speaking to Doctor Carlisle about... a substitute. After we find him, of course... on behalf of me. I was also wondering where everyone stood... with regards to... vampires and well, us werewolves..."

"Eating vampires?" Jacob asked softly-the danger in his tone thick. He realised that Dominic didn't remember how he had killed Matthew Delong in his rage after the werewolf had accidentally eaten a beloved woman-vampire or otherwise, Esme Cullen had held a part of his heart.

"Err..." Dominic looked at his hands and Katherine shrugged closer to his side.

"You have no control when you are a werewolf. You can't help it. We can't stop you. That's the end of that" Jacob's voice cut across the room "All we can do is contain you"

"Contain us" Dominic scoffed.

"It's an addiction, Dominic" Jacob said stonily.

"You understand me when I tell you I will die without...!" Dominic stopped abruptly, his eyes swerving to Leah.

"I understand" Leah whispered "More than you know, about addictions. What Jake is worried about is that you would harm the wrong vampire..."

"Just something pleasant for us to think about while worrying about _everything_ else!" Billy grumbled.

"Thank you for that little addition" Bradley frowned "Really, thank you, Dom. I feel so much better..."

"Just Dominic, no variations please" Dominic said icily.

"Being part of the pack means variations" Bradley said and before Dominic could answer, Leah sighed "He is just trying to wind you up, Dominic. Let it go"

"It's always constructive when Bradley opens his yap" Seth sighed, shaking his head.

"Meeting adjourned" Jacob sighed, listening to the return of the car. "Please... no weird behaviour. Could we not abuse the Grangers? Be courteous please. No overeating..."

"I can try everything else, Boss" Collin sighed "Not sure about the overeating part..."

"Hell, I don't think even you could manage that, Jake!" Bradley laughed.

"We have money" Leah sighed.

"Where?!" Seth and Jacob asked simultaneously.

"In a private account, of course" Leah closed her eyes, realising that she needed to be more aware of her reality least her brothers fall of a cliff from lack of her guidance "You don't think the Cullens would leave us to beg on the streets, do you? Even little rebel groups, need financing..."

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Rosalie and Emmett Cullen were careful not to enter the little town they had once stayed in. They stood outside, and with Rosalie's shrewdness, they had spotted out which humans were obviously on the lookout for anything pale and beautiful and which of the humans of the little town were actually in mourning over the recent unfortunate 'Earthquake' that had cost them the lives of so many loved ones.

"They aren't here" Rosalie said and Emmett agreed with a stiff head nod. She looked up at her husband and swallowed; she recognised the expression on his face, the shadows in his eyes and his silence. He was geared for violence... there would be no calming his when the culprits of this vicious attack were found.

"Nahuel said it was better for us to keep away from the all together" Rosalie said "I think we shouldn't make contact with _any _humans. Em?"

"Hmm, I think I should have broken _all _his limbs and snapped his neck" Emmett growled, fists clenching and unclenching.

"We stick to the woods" Rosalie ignored his violence momentarily. "The wolves would only be able to move through the woods"

"If they are not captured..." Emmett began.

"Emmett!" Rosalie snapped "All we have is hope! All _I _have is hope! We will find them all and we will exit this chaos between Joham, Raul and the Volturi and these _Humans. _It has nothing to do with us..."

"They want our niece and nephew, Rose" Emmett said.

"Well, I want... never gets" Rosalie growled, both vampires moving back deeper into the woods "And they just can't have what's mine!"


	28. Avengers

**AVENGERS **

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

**If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? **

**And if you wrong us… shall we not **_**revenge**_**?**

_William Shakespeare_

**x**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

The short chubby woman was distinguished throughout the company for her passion and devotion towards _this_ line of work. She was renowned for her prowls in the field; she had seen the supernatural, she had interacted with the supernatural and she could _wrangle _withthe supernatural in all corners of the globe to do what was needed for the world of _man_. The most legendary thing about Lorraine was her _resourcefulness_ with the use of psychology when combating the craftiness of all the creatures from _hell_.

All in all, Lorraine was an enigmatic figure in the God's People organization; feared, admired and esteemed. There were of course, other factions and in those separate divisions there were other revered men and women… but Lorraine's value and accomplishments had everything to do with _vampires-_the main creatures she felt were demons living among men and pretending to be men (the pretense of being human was in Lorraine's eyes, the gravest sin… a sin that she had been abused by, at one life changing point in her life).

Lorraine was the vampire wrangler.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Annabelle Erikson had never been more disturbed than she was now.

"Angela…" she murmured standing stiffly by her bed, facing the wall with a vacant expression on her face. She called Angela's name once more but of course Angela Weber wouldn't reply. Angela was fast asleep because it was three fifteen in the morning and all _normal_ good workers were curled in their beds… _without_ their ear pieces. The lack of an earpiece wasn't truly a problem really because none of the other workers had _willingly_ let intruders into their mind, and they had not _willingly_ left the door to their psyche open…

"An… ge…" Annabelle tried once more but then her eyes blinked rapidly for fifteen seconds and focus fell over her vision. She blinked once more, frowned at the wall in confusion and looked over to her sleeping coworker.

Annabelle thought she may have drifted off into thought after her shower but one look at her clock alerted her that this could not be true. She had taken her bath at eight pm, as she normally did. She realized she was out of breath but she knew she had not travelled outside the room.

Annabelle wouldn't know that she was out of breath because she had subconsciously argued with the bronze haired man (whom she finally knew as Charles thanks to the lab reports) in her dreams over the fact that he had found her own secret journal. The argument had resulted in her releasing Charles hand…

But not before he gripped her hand long enough, not before he had held her journal and not before he had been the owner of her garden for those few moments when he had spoken through her mouth, and tried to call out to Angela Weber.

Annabelle didn't remember any of this but she knew she had been in her garden with Charles. She looked around her in panic; expecting the security guards to charge in and call her out-she had conflicting emotions _with_ her work.

"My… God…" Annabelle whispered to herself, sitting on her bed and paling "What is happening to me?"

Angela snorted in her sleep before stilling once more. She was having a dreamless night, the sort of nights she preferred to her normal horrifying nightmares of a limbless Edward Cullen like the one she had seen in the attic on the farm-except this Edward would look at her with red icy eyes and sneer at her.

Annabelle waited for Angela to wake, ready with an excuse on why she was up at such an hour but when the woman didn't move except for the evident soft breathing, Annabelle went back to bed. She pulled the covers over herself and shut her eyes tightly.

She didn't dream because she _couldn't _sleep.

All she could think of were those green eyes.

They were all she feared…

All she dreaded.

But she couldn't stop…

"Emeralds" she whispered to herself softly. Her alarm would go off, she would get up and pretend as well as she had been doing all along but in her sleepless state… she would make a few mistakes that the green eyed Devil would be more than thrilled to take advantage of.

After all, he now knew where she kept her own secret journal…

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"Doctor Cullen, it is a pleasure to finally meet you!" Lorraine said affectionately, a warm smile on her face and eyes twinkling in awe. "There is a file that goes as far as ten and one decades on you! Amazing!"

She sipped her tea gently, placing the pink floral cup back in its saucer delicately before clasping her hands in front of her, sure to keep her bible visible. She stared at Carlisle Cullen in the same initial awe but this sentiment was wholly different to that admiration that the vampire had received from countless women; Lorraine knew he was a vampire unlike _them _and although she was unwillingly intrigued by his looks as she always was with all the demons-she knew that under the white smooth skin lay a ghastly beast.

She was not about to fall in love with this creature any time soon…

"Doctor Carlisle?" she quirked a manicured eyebrow up and pursed her lips. "Carlisle Cullen?" she said louder before sighing and leaning back in her seat. She waved the guard over to her and when he reached her, she motioned him to bend closer to her. She grabbed his tie when he was still too far off to her liking and pulled him to her sharply, hissing in the man's ear "Did they do anything besides chain _it_?! I know how these doctors love to get carried away with their experiments… Vampires are immortal but they are not above being _damaged and destroyed!_"

"I… err…" the guard gulped against the strain of his tightening tie, the tension there increasing "Not sure, Ma'am?" he managed.

"Argh!" Lorraine pushed him away and scowled "Fine!"

She pursed her lips further, glaring at the vampire seated opposite her, shackled and chained behind the thick treated glass cutting through the table and separating them. Their one use and main purpose for the renowned 'civilized' Carlisle Cullen involved him willingly (or, without a choice…) co-operating with their cause.

Lorraine knew there would be no hope of reaching that point if the vampire was unresponsive and _apparently_ brain dead. Her new dilemma in the face of current events would be to pull out the threats immediately or carry on with the guise that 'it' would have its 'wellbeing' put into consideration…

"Fine" Lorraine whispered, taking her glasses out of her bag and putting them on. She glanced up at the vampire. She couldn't see his face, his head bowed and the thick lush blonde hair hiding his face further. She put her bible in front of her briefly, read a verse from Ephesians and pushed the bible to the side once more. She reached into her bag and took out a thick file and placed it carefully in front of her. She pressed her chubby hand on the khaki cover and smoothed a finger over the title printed on the file.

"Renesme Cullen" she read loudly and deliberately. She looked up at Carlisle Cullen but the vampire made no move with regards to the name. She turned the file open and read over the first half of the report, tutting every now and then and glancing up occasionally at Carlisle.

She read no further, leaving a vast majority of pages unread before closing the file gently.

"I'll be here all day and then some if I tried to read through this… half breeds file!" Lorraine laughed, pushing her glasses up. "Amazing read though… simply amazing"

"I had been trying to understand her connection to your family for so long, for you see we didn't know she was a Cullen. We always assumed she was a Swan… you know, from Isabella Swan?" she looked closely at the vampire as she said Bella Swan's name but there was no reaction. "But now… after seeing Edward Cullen… my, oh my, the resemblance… I am not sure if he is more evil than you Doctor Cullen; he _mixed _the purity of man with his… evilness while _you_ simply turned man to evil"

"We could have asked Edward to help us with this crisis… that we are having…" she said slowly, rolling her eyes at her lazy attempt at creating the illusion that The Company were at a disadvantage in the chaos of the world-of the _whole _world. "I know about vampire memory retention… I am sure you would teach your… your…." She rolled her eyes again, sighing heavily as she said the word that she didn't believe could describe Carlisle Cullen's beautiful beastly creations "_Children_" she spat.

"I am sure you would teach them _all _about your _ways_" her tone couldn't hide the disgust… the abhorrence she was filled with when she thought about how vampires dared to create an ethos for their kind… and that Carlisle Cullen had succeeded in just that.

"But we want _you_, Carlisle" her eyes were filled with that awe once again, so suddenly she may have been possessed by another personality "Magnificent!" she clapped her hands and in a lower tone she murmured "Magnificent _civilized _specimen"

Silence met her efforts and her patience wavered once more. She frowned at him.

"There must be _something_ you want?" she whispered, propping her chin in her hand and leaning on the table. He looked up at her and she gasped, pushing back from the table instantly.

"Esme" Carlisle Cullen's absolute despair and desolation hammered through the glass and collided with her conscious so abruptly and suddenly that Lorraine stood up rapidly from her seat despite her plumpness weighing over the limbs, bible in hand and heart shaking. She never felt for the _creatures_ and she had seen all their imitations at human feeling and emotions. She never ever… allowed herself to be pulled into their make believe emotions.

She looked back at the guard, worried he may have seen what had pricked-no, not pricked-_stabbed _at her heart. She was aware her eyes were wide and terrified and she may have been pale; but she had to make sure he at least had no clue what had happened. The man looked back at her in puzzlement and she sighed in relief, closing her eyes; _thank you God he is a halfwit_-she prayed.

"Sorry… you said… Esme?" she sat back down carefully. Lorraine would have rather let the incident go. She would have rather Carlisle were returned to his cell to allow her time to recover but she knew that the one word was the first word ever to be heard from Carlisle and it had been heard by _her _and she had to take full advantage of the circumstances.

It was all for the good of The Company, in the end. For the good of Man's World… for the _human_ world, in the end.

He didn't reply, instead twisting slightly in his seat, his expression wrought in despair and eyes wide and in agony; he was staring into the unknown-into those resilient memories all vampires contained that made every occurrence seem like it happened only seconds ago… even if it were centuries, decades… _hours_.

"Things were not to end that way" Lorraine said in true regret, shaking her head "Those half-breed siblings were not supposed to… instigate _that_. Very unfortunate business… very costly to our organization; our sole purpose is for the protection of humans and obviously that went _against_ that…"

She sighed "I hadn't anticipated Flora using her gift on humans. I overlooked that. I normally operate with Nahuel…"

She could see the vampire didn't care for her side of the story because all he wanted was the unattainable; the completely dead and gone Esme.

But Lorraine knew there was another thing that may interest him… vampire or man, revenge still tasted _exceptionally_ sweet.

"Nahuel…" she tutted "He never did forgive you and your… coven… for what was it? Capturing him? Joham…" she closed her eyes, working carefully on her fabricated story "Joham would surely want to teach you a lesson"

She looked at Carlisle, still no reaction from the vampire.

"But no… it wouldn't be Joham" she spun the story out, thinking of the best vampire to throw the rage of a _man_ (for when it came to revenge, all creatures were one) left with nothing. And who, of current, was uncontrollable? Joham… he still needed them and they needed South America.

But they didn't need Italy.

"Isabella" Lorraine said softly and Carlisle's eyes regained focus. He looked at her intently, a trickle of suspicion mingling with his misery. "It was Isabella he was going for…" she whispered trying to recall the violence as accurately as she knew Carlisle would contain in his memories. Nahuel _had indeed _gone for Isabella… "Picking of your family-traitors and all-one by one"

"You know Nahuel is secretly against his father?" she asked casually and of course, Carlisle made no response but she had his attentions when even Edward Cullen had failed to pull him from his misery.

"If he is against his father…" she leaned forward "Who do you think he is _for?_"

"Raul?" Carlisle whispered and then he glowered viciously; such resentment and ire startling Lorraine visibly and she struggled to regain her composure "What purpose do your words have!?" Carlisle growled, his accent tilting towards its true British fluency.

"No, not Raul… Raul is not concerned with _your _world" Lorraine whispered rapidly "Think again… Carlisle"

He closed his eyes and took in a hard breath and remained silent.

"_Every one of them!_" Lorraine hissed. "You know it, Doctor Cullen… it's always been them, hasn't it? Terrorizing your… coven. No, your _family_…!"

"Aro…" Carlisle's eyes widened in realization; in loathing… in wrath, spite and extreme pleasure at the prospect of _vengeance_. His limbs were filled with the stuff, the energy of it and the liberation of feeling something other than the emptiness… "Aro!?" he roared, shaking in his seat, treated chains tinkling and the metal nails meant to keep him in place creaking in the floor.

His face changed; the very counters of face, his compassion dripped off and all empathy lost-he was transformed into something past angelic. He turned into an avenging angel… an _archangel _filled with righteous hatred and pure uncontaminated abomination for the name he had uttered.

"ARO!" Carlisle Cullen never knew such an inferno and hatred could live inside _anything _and there it was in place of his dead heart. He rose from his seat as though he had never been chained; bits of titanium and metal flying everywhere like shrapnel from a grenade. He shook and shuddered as though he were a _turning _vampire, gripping his divine hair violently and looking around him… almost as though he were praying for Aro to be there with him (and any being that _had indeed_ been in the enclosure with him would have substituted for Aro…) and when he found no hated charismatic vampire or a substitute…

He grabbed the seat that was meant to never _ever_ move from where it was nailed into the ground, ripped it from those nails and fastenings and flung it to the screen keeping him away from Lorraine. The screen shuddered as the chair whammed into it but did not do as much as crack, Lorraine cowering briefly when she thought the vampires rage that had seen him free himself would indeed see him breaking the unbreakable glass.

"Leave him in there…" she stammered, rising from her seat and casting a terrified glance at the raging and pacing rampant cyclone that was the previously _civilized _Doctor Carlisle Cullen. She walked out of the room quickly, taking out her little phone a pressing the number 'four'.

"Get the snipers, and calm him down with the nanomite bullets. Move him into a type A cell… and prepare another one with the Nanotechnology Professor, move him in there in twenty four hours" she said quickly, her breathing fast "I don't care… he will build the bloody cell in twenty four hours! If that thing had wanted to be free after what I saw… it would have _been_ free! The only thing that kept him bound had been his mourning… and now, his working on _fury_!"

"Trust me… there is nothing more evil than a heart filled with vengeance" she spoke into the earpiece solemnly "…and this vampire hadn't even had a heart to begin with!"

Xx~xx~xX

"Edward Cullen" Lorraine was working overtime. She had been unable to sit still after her little interview with the previously _good _Doctor Cullen and the image of that swift transformation from utter _misery_ to blood filled _rage_ on the vampire's face had traumatized her.

Lorraine decided to distract herself further. She would go to the _reported_ telepath… she would get what she needed to further create an environment where Carlisle Cullen would be willingly (or without a choice) tutor their doctors and scientist with his vast knowledge on vampire genetics and hybrid heredities in their human and vampire makeup.

"Pass me the file…?" Lorraine put her hand out for the file and when no file dropped in her expecting hand after a second she sighed and looked to her left at the slow skinny girl with the tight bun on her head. "File?" she repeated and Annabelle started, quickly looking to her right, grabbing the file and passing it to Lorraine.

"You just can't get good help these days, eh?" Lorraine laughed, smiling her warm smile at Edward. She delivered the smile with precision every time… it was a well practiced smile for both vampires and humans. Edward scowled at her, looking away in disgust. He sat in a similar cell to the one Carlisle Cullen had been placed in to begin with, but unlike Carlisle… Lorraine was sure Edward didn't have the added centuries of strength or the fury that Carlisle had inside of him (born from being too indulgent with his compassion for too long). She was certain the telepath could do no more than pull on his chain and hurl insults at her… if it fancied him.

There was also the matter of the lovely glass that was vampire proof.

"No, it seems you can't" Edward said glaring from Lorraine seated comfily opposite him, to a casual flip of his gaze to the 'help' in question.

_The help… me, the help…? Why, if she knew how many workers… _ Annabelle's soft and condescending mental tone filtered past the glass and filled Edward Cullen's mind as the first mental thought he had heard so near, and so in detail in a few days. He couldn't hide his surprise, casting Annabelle Erikson a second look.

She wasn't wearing her earpiece. It would be the second time she had forgotten the thing.

Their eyes met and Annabelle's eyes widened. While Annabelle was reeling from seeing a version of the bronze haired shaggy man; a version that was _consummately_ beautiful and whose eyes were too dark and too tortured for a being supposedly containing no soul, Edward Cullen had already fallen back into his role as a vampire captured and helpless.

"You are a lot more chatty than Doctor Cullen!" Lorraine smiled at him "Refreshing"

"I am glad you feel that way" Edward lied. "How is my father?"  
"He isn't your 'father'…!" Lorraine snapped, impatient with all the pretense at humanity and she didn't owe or particularly _need_ to be cordial to Edward Cullen; the telepath… they had more than enough leverage on him "He is your _maker_. Your perpetrator for your eternal damnation…"

"I suppose that could be one way of looking at it…" Edward rolled his eyes "Moving past your sentiments… how is he?"

"You are quite cocky"

"I have been told… but its all opinion in the end. I prefer 'self assured'" Edward pursed his lips. Lorraine smiled; she _appreciated_ character.

"I suppose such an attitude would come with hearing the thoughts of others?" Lorraine asked, rather enjoying her interview with Edward.

"Yes, I suppose it would" Edward smiled back, a mind blowing smile that saw Lorraine fixing her eyes back to the file and irritated as she had been countless times throughout her job, by the beauty of vampires.

Annabelle Erikson reached a hand to her ear and gasped. Edward Cullen took advantage of Lorraine's moment of focusing on her file and smiled deliberately and fully at the young girl. He could hear her every thought; she couldn't afford to alert Lorraine that she had stupidly forgotten to wear her earpiece.

As she thought this, she replayed her dreams of the bronze haired man and her garden. He could hear and see everything in her mind. He made no reaction as Lorraine looked up; he was a most proficient actor.

"You seem at ease for someone who has offspring ambling about in the enemy's lair?" Lorraine smiled her warm smile but Edward Cullen didn't give her the reaction she had wanted. He smiled back, just as warmly.

Charles Black had been in Annabelle Erikson's mind and Edward knew this. Annabelle Erikson had been having some serious sleep depravation over the past few days… Annabelle Erikson's mind was weak. Charles Black had been in Annabelle's mind every night, in her subconscious and now, Annabelle was _mostly_ conscious but a part of her had shut down to her subconscious. She was Charles Black's telescope into the world as she moved about in her grumpy tired state without her earpiece…

"My daughter and grandson can take care of themselves"

"Since you are pretending to be a father let me just tell you that your parenting skills leave a lot to be desired…." Lorraine said stiffly frowning at Edward "But then again, you are just a mindless beast from hell in the end"

"Such harsh words"

"Such truth!" Lorraine crackled.

"Maybe…" Edward shrugged in his chains in indifference. "I do worry about my youngest… offspring"

"Worry away; we have grand things for him…" Lorraine said airily "His file contains only two pages! Absurd! I think I should let my overly curious scientist twist and dissect the man…"

Edward remained silent.

"Find out how it is there came to be a werewolf hybrid from a _half vampire spawn…_!" Lorraine sneered but Edward gave her no reaction save for a single blink of his eyelids. This was reaction enough; his cockiness had retreated. "Do you know what we give our werewolves?" she asked casually, relaxing in her seat.

"No" Edward said shortly.

"This substance our scientists cooked up in the labs" she said "It keeps them big and strong. I am sure you wont mind us feeding your _thing _some of that… he has been looking rather hungry. Atonement for your bad parenting… and such?"

"Why would you do that?" Edward asked softly "Why would you want him big and strong?"  
"So we can give him a nice little necklace that keeps him in check and send him off with the rest of the werewolves to work… of course" Lorraine smiled sweetly "Did you know that werewolves feed of vampires…?"  
"You give them… vampire flesh?" Edward gasped although he had been alerted to this by Leah and Jacob when he had arrived back on the farm and had met the two new members of their little shambled group.

"No, we don't" Lorraine said in part revulsion "Vampire flesh is a treat to them… for… good behavior. We give them a synthesized venom that we don't truly have a use for… it's harmless to humans but complements a part of the werewolf diet they need. Nothing like vampire flesh however… you are the ultimate delicacy" she said this as though it were a complement.

"Synthesized… venom" Edward repeated his eyes flicking to Annabelle… to Charles, he was sure. "No. You wouldn't do that… it would be like _cannibalism_, you understand!? Especially you… a lovely woman… you see the excessive offence of that…?!"  
"I owe your kind nothing and Edward... please do not pretend to have… _morality_" Lorraine said dangerously softly.

"Who knows what the venom would do to him!" Edward cried, twisting and fighting the chains "He could die… he could weaken exponentially instead…! Please… do not do this!"

"It will be done" Lorraine said in satisfaction. "And don't despair… when its done we will give you all our attention too"

Xx~xx~xX

Annabelle's day had been fully packed today. Too many of the supervisors had popped up unannounced (or rather, Annabelle had forgotten that they were to appear). She shuffled to the next laboratory exasperated and defeated. She had to try and sleep later…

"Annabelle" Angela Weber greeted her when they met in the corridor. Renesme Cullen required their duo assistance due to the many doctors and scientists working on her. She was the only hybrid vampire they had. "Here" Angela passed Annabelle a folder.

They passed through three security check points in silence, and in twenty minutes they stood in front of the hidden entrance to Renesme Cullen's lab room. The door opened and they stepped in, immediately deflated when the saw how busy and relatively populated the room was. There would be plenty of work required of them from which ever one of the scientists they were assigned to.

"Annabelle" Angela hissed, touching Annabelle's arm.

"What!" Annabelle grumbled, grabbing her arm away.

"Your earpiece….?" Angela touched her own earpiece indicatively, looking around them in case a guard had noticed this too. They would both be in serious trouble for carelessness.

"You and I both know I don't have enough time to get it from the room!" Annabelle pursed her lips, looking about her apprehensively "What's the worse that could happen…?" she demanded.

"What's the worse that could happen, indeed" Angela murmured.

Xx~xx~xX

They worked rapidly and with no break and by the end of everything Angela had learnt things about Renesme Cullen that didn't seem important to her plans of escape; she didn't need to know that Renesme Cullen was in capable of having any more children in her frozen body, or that Renesme _still contained _viable eggs inside of her regardless of the fact that her womb was inhabitable in its frozen unchanging state.

She didn't need to know that Renesme Cullen could in fact, contract human ailments but the rarity of such incidents made it a dismissible fact-Angela had witnessed Renesme Cullen with a cold and it had not been dismissible at _all_…

A tracker had been put under Renesme's skin (after numerous instruments had been broken trying to pierce through said skin until finally, a machine that Angela knew nothing about save for the 'diamond' involved in managing to go through the half vampire's skin…) and this tracker was what kept Angela inside the laboratory longer than necessary.

She had to take it out somehow.

Her only problem was the eager scientist working around the clock on Renesme's genetic make up and its possible pro-attributes with regards to humans… and Annabelle Erikson; who by all accounts and physical appearance should have been happy to leave with the rest of the workforce.

"You look exhausted…" Angela said casually and Annabelle scowled.

"What's it to you?" she grumbled.

"You are extra grumpy when you are exhausted" Angela kept her happy demeanor " Are those bags under your eyes…?"  
"Is that a grey hair?" Annabelle retorted passing the scientist (they hadn't bothered to learn his name, even though he wore a name tag) a printed paper with results on something he had been waiting on.

Angela touched her messy shoddily pulled back hair self consciously, twirling the loose pony briefly. She wondered if she did have a grey hair… she wondered if it would matter and what would it mean?

"It would mean I am aging…" she muttered to herself but Annabelle had heard her, as well as the anonymous scientist.

"Aging…" the man stood up straight and briefly left the monitor he had been analyzing "Is a sign that you are human… but with this little Miss here, we could discover a part of the vampire gene that would allow for humans to not necessarily be immortal… that, we all agree is for the _damned_ and what not…" he paused to push his glasses up and said in a highly cynical tone"…this business of working for overzealous Christians…" he paused and sighed "… anyway, we wouldn't be immortal-we would _age _slowly. Just a possibility"

He smiled at Angela "Something to look forward to with this research, eh?"  
"You have a girl in a comma and you are prodding her against her will!" Angela snapped suddenly, a mean scowl on her face "What's there to look forward to in that?"

"Angela!" Annabelle held Angela's hand and squeezed it, surprising Angela with the touch. The scientist blinked at her in confusion and smiled unsure.

"She isn't a girl" he said "She is a blood drinking _creature _that would kill you as soon as she looked at you"

"…or bake you a cake from scratch simply because she can and argue with a seven foot brat about tracking mud in the house and leaving fur on the couches!" Annabelle laughed shrilly and uncontrolled.

Angela's mouth remained gaping; she had been about to say something else in her uncontrolled anger that would have cost her dearly this time but Annabelle Erikson's words had been too strange and yet entirely normal to Angela Weber. She looked at Annabelle, who had released her hand.

Annabelle was rubbing her temples and muttering about blackouts.

"Ms. Weber, I think you should go to bed…" the scientists said and Angela read his name badge. A Mr Sheldon Barring-middle aged, virgin and fervent for the unnatural. "I understand you are eager to be on the team to interview Isabella Swan. That can be very stressful especially with your affiliation with the woman…"

"I do think you should go to bed, Angela" Annabelle said and when Angela looked into the young girls eyes, they seemed unfocused and vacant. Angela blinked at her in confusion and worry, looked back at the irritated scientist and then at the unconscious Renesme on the medical table.

She was obviously not going to be able to take out the tracker tonight, Angela decided. She hadn't truly thought this through… there were camera's, she would have needed to take care of that and she hadn't. There was no 'contingency plan' in fact…

"Fine" Angela snapped at Annabelle. "You irritate the crap out of me, Annabelle. I just thought you should know… goodnight, Doctor Barring"

"Err… goodnight" Doctor Barring called "Don't worry about the… breakdown; I'll keep it between us three. We all have them, comes with the line of work!"

Xx~xx~xX

Annabelle joined Angela in their bedroom three hours after Angela had been dismissed from the laboratory. Angela had, in her anger, frustration and depression-decided to take a shower first and leave enough evidence that this was what she had done.

"You showered first" Annabelle said in a hollow tone, rubbing her eyes. "Why would you do that… when we agreed… I would always bathe first?"

"Same reason you would suddenly say what you said in the laboratory"  
"What did I say?!" Annabelle hissed "What in the heavens did I say that would make you behave so utterly… horridly!"  
"The thing about the fur on the couches" Angela pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes "You know about Leah… why would you say anything about fur and seven foot brats?"

"I didn't say that… you are out of your mind!" Annabelle yelled, her voice hoarse "How dare you bathe before me…!"

"Tell me why you said it?" Angela insisted, standing up and rounding on Annabelle "Why, Annabelle… why would you say it and stop me from getting myself thrown out of The Company? Why…?!"

"I did nothing!" Annabelle insisted "You are insane… you are mad! You cry all the time… you… you!" she pointed a finger at Angela and backed away, heading for the bathroom. "You silly cow… you bathed before me!"

"You have blood on your finger…?" Angela whispered frowning. Annabelle raised the finger she had been pointing accusatorially at Angela and inspected it. There was blood but she herself was not cut. She looked from her finger to Angela and then hid her hand behind her back.

"I have nothing… if they kick me out, Angela" she whispered "My father… I can't go back to him. No, I just can't! I have to find Matthew… or Dominic. Yes, please… that's all I want"

Angela stared at Annabelle in disbelief. Had the girl just refuted everything that had happened in the laboratory? She had, and Angela could see that Annabelle believed her words…

"I just… need a bath. I need to sleep" Annabelle smiled weakly at Angela. "That's all. I am so… so sorry. I'll forgive you for the bath too. Okay?"  
"Err… okay, Annabelle" Angela said dubiously and the girl went into the shower, turned it on.

In an hour, Annabelle hadn't come out of the shower and when Angela in concern, had gone in; the girl was slumped on the floor of the shower, water cascading over her… and snoring gently.

"Shit!" Angela hissed, turning the water off and thanking the heavens the water hadn't been turned to hot. She toweled Annabelle and lead her sleepwalking form to her bed and put her in bed as naked as she was.

"Angela…" Annabelle said deliberately although her eyes were shut.

"Yes?" Angela was now very much afraid of the strange girl. She peered at Annabelle warily, half her body cocked to her own bed.

"Tracker is out…" Annabelle mumbled "Annabelle has been sleeping with Doctor Barring. She doesn't know… its safe and Barring wont tell"

Angela paled.

"They are going to give me venom" Annabelle said "Edward is in danger. You have to abandon your revenge on Isabella… and find Carlisle. Stay on the research teams to do with them. When I get out… I need to be able to find them and free them quickly"

"The fuck…!" Angela yelped, jumping into her bed in a matter of seconds and covering herself immediately with her blankets as though it could save her from the evil happening in the room. She was expecting floating furniture, gusts of cold wind and crawling children on the ceiling…

"Goodnight" was what she received from Annabelle instead followed by an "Oh by the way, it's Charles"

It was all disturbingly punctuated with a soft snore from Annabelle Erikson and a sleepy mumble of "… emeralds…"

That night, would be the one night after many were Annabelle wouldn't dream of the bronze haired thin man and instead she slept peacefully in a fairytale involving a pale glorious angel with reddish brown hair and an alluring crooked smile…

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

They stood a few feet apart in the cold forest; Emmett nearer to Rosalie and Jasper nearer to his Alice. They had been still and silent for _hours. _Pensive, troubled and shaken. Angels fallen and lost on earth.

Where was the rest of their family…? What had happened in the town… and most worryingly, Alice's easy visions that saw her reunited with Rosalie and Emmett meant the wolves were not with their family.

"Do you think Joham has them…? Revenge for what I did to Nahuel?" Emmett asked softly. Besides the distance they stood apart, everyone heard him.

"It's a possibility…" Alice sighed "One thing for sure; Aro doesn't have them and he won't be pleased that I freed Henry"

"Do you think it's safe to have sent him to Forks?" Jasper breathed, closing his eyes and recalling the image of Alice running towards him… cradling the six foot something Quileute in her arms comically and hissing that they would need a boat in the end and she did believe in a God; why on earth would the prisoner beneath her cell be a Quileute…

"Where else does one send a Quileute wolf but to Forks?" Rosalie asked tersely.

"Aro… will be most unpleasant" Alice whispered. "I couldn't sent him to Forks… that would be the first place they would look for him"

"Where did you send him then?!" Jasper hissed.

"This Quileute, which wolf is he…?" Emmett asked, immediately concerned for his 'brothers', Seth and Jacob.

"I have never seen him but he was definitely a wolf" Alice said "He had been unconscious when I had broken through to his cell. Didn't say a word when he came around, save for his name and to ask me if I was a Cullen… I just put him on a plane when we got on shore in America…"  
"Where did you send him!?" Jasper insisted. He had been affected by the boy's misery so deeply and when the boy had refused to speak his distress had been trebled.

"Africa… South Africa" Alice said "Honestly, that's always the last place vampires go to, not enough shade from the sun"

"Rubbish~" Rosalie snapped "Emmett and I go there all the time"  
"You know what I mean, Rose" Alice sighed. "I gave him money and instruction… and Jazz, I asked you to trust me. Why the sudden questioning…?"  
"I couldn't let it go, sorry" Jasper muttered. "We haven't been able to contact Jacob… not a single wolf…"  
"Oh" Alice breathed frowning slightly "Of course"  
"Of course?" Emmett asked.

"I am looking for a vision…" Alice sighed shaking her head "What I should be looking for is a white _irritating _screen with blurry images behind it!"

"That would lead us to the wolves and not Carlisle" Rosalie frowned.

"What we want is Carlisle, Alice…" Jasper murmured.

"I have been looking for Carlisle and Esme and I can't find them. Not because the vision is blocked by wolves… you see, I _recognize _the sensation of wolves blocking my vision. I haven't gotten any of that…"

"Because they aren't with the wolves" Rosalie whispered.

"Yes but Carlisle is with… _someone_ who is interfering with their futures!" Alice yelped, fisting the air.

"Renesme?" Jasper offered.

"I recognize her blockage too, its similar to that of the wolves" Alice said "This is foreign and undetectable…"

"Werewolves" Emmett growled.

"We find the wolves… because we _actually _can find and track them" Alice breathed "Yes, that's what we will do. Track the wolves. And then from there…"

From there, they would know what happened to the rest of their family. From there, they would know what was needed to make them whole once more.

**AUHTORS NOTE:**

**The amazing power of feedback! You are all superheros! See you soon…**


	29. Interview with a Vampire

**INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

"I am very impressed, Jacob... Leah too. Very impressed with the clues you left us-bank transactions and the such. Ingenuity" Alice smiled a little, her arms folded over each other. She was tucked under Jasper's arm, the tall blonde vampire's face hard and impassive. She knew she was the only one capable of talk talking after what they had just heard about the rest of their family.

She was the only one who could tackle her emotions and deal with things without the easy choice of violence and revenge. After all, even though her gift was limited thanks to the introduction of other creatures connected to her future-she had learnt an art in forewarning, thanks to it.

"I would like you to meet the Grangers" Jacob led Alice into the lounge, the other vampires following her silently. "They have been assisting us... with the human side of things. We can't exactly go prancing into towns... and mind, they have done so on their own free will"

"So they know you are all prone to having tails?" Alice asked and Jacob nodded.

The lounge was nothing impressive; decor simple and homely and the colours warm and orange. It was the group huddled in there that immediately shocked the eye into taking a second closer look; a series of tall muscled tanned individuals and the thin huddled forms of Dominic and Katherine. On one lone ancient couch sat two elderly individuals, cuddled and at ease with a fire crackling in the fireplace, near their feet.

"They have been waiting for you for a while?" the elderly woman smiled, her eyes widening at the paleness of her guests... and the beauty of them all. "My name is Lynn, this is my husband Rupert"

"Pleased to meet you, Lynn" Alice smiled beautifully before pointing each one of her siblings out-for Alice knew what vampire anger and fear was, and that was what had rippled through Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie. They were on autopilot...

"This beauty here is my sister Rose" Alice touched Rosalie's arm but Rose gave no response, her eyes staring unseeingly at a wall and lips twitching occasionally. "This is her husband Emmett and this tall one in over protective mode is my own husband, Jasper"

"My, look how beautiful they are!" Lynn touched her dozing husbands shoulder and he started, blinking rapidly "Rupert... look?"

Rupert grumbled slightly, busying himself with finding his thick glasses and when he had put them on and looked at what his dear wife was excited over, he too gasped. Four angels stood in their living rooms with sadness etched in their pale velvety features.

"Oh my" Rupert breathed.

"My sentiments exactly!" Lynn laughed "Well, do take a seat... err, Bradley and Billy if you don't mind joining Seth by the hearth so our guest could take a seat?"

"We don't need to sit" Rosalie's voice came out sharp; her features seemed thrilled into focus and eyes narrowed. "You know they are wolves..." Rosalie pointed at the pack and the couple nodded. "Well, we are vampires"

"Rosalie that is unnecessary!" Alice hissed. "You are frightening them!"

"I think everyone we come in contact with and those that wish to help us should be given a fair warning..." Rosalie raised a perfect eyebrow before returning her gaze to Lynn and Rupert "We are vampires" she said "We do not need to sit, lie down or even move. We don't eat and we don't sleep. We don't age and we are eternally beautiful... that is, what we are. That is what you have invited into your homes"

"Well, aren't vampires supposed to drink blood?" Rupert asked.

"Yes, they are" Alice said softly, almost apologetically "And we do. We do drink blood, Rupert just... not human blood so you don't have to worry"

"But caution, is a must" Rosalie added, turning around. She stood still for a moment before saying with increasing speed and volume, which left Rupert and Lynn dizzy "I need some air. I apologize; my conduct and decorum has left me and I know with what is going on outbursts and time to grieve has turned into a luxury so suddenly what with Charles and Nessie... Edward...oh, Carlisle and Esme... oh, my poor Esme...!"

The wolves cringed away from the volume of Rosalie's brief wail, while the two human's and unturned werewolves wore masks of disorientation and distress.

She was gone before Rupert and Lynn could understand or comprehend that the Rosalie had not vanished or turned invisible but ran out at such a pace as they had never seen. Emmett closed his eyes, his expression grave and said clearly and with such anger and violence that his voice boomed in the little lounge "There will be hell to pay... Nahuel and Joham... every single one of them... will burn to ashes"

"We can't be sure" Alice whispered quickly "There were werewolves involved. Joham did not have werewolves when you freed Nessie from South America!"

"What would stop him from acquiring some?!" Emmett demanded "Venom will spill for my mother's death"  
"Our mother, Emmett!" Alice insisted "Ours! Oh, poor Carlisle...!"

"Carlisle..." Jasper managed, before shaking his head once and groaning "Brother, Emmett... I agree. There will be venom and we shall bring hell"

Alice panicked, this was what she had feared since the words had fell from Jacob's lips in stammers and stutters, the youth brought about through his amnesia shining in his awkward recall of the desolate incident, shining in the tears that had welled up in his eyes and that he had violently wiped away... while Leah had looked on grave and silent. This was what Alice Cullen had feared would be awoken in Emmett and Jasper; revenge. It was justifiable, good heavens, it was what was in her heart... but although her gift had reached so many blockages of late... she had learnt to manoeuvre around it; and what she had deduced was that revenge could only come third. They needed to find the rest of their family first, urgently and secondly...

"Carlisle..." Alice whispered "He will turn to the worst... to the most hidden part of his clean soul, the part that would recognise revenge and hate and would embrace it willingly and with no qualms or remorse. He will turn to darkness and it would be _ageless_ and _insatiable_"

"And if he is lost in that darkness..." Emmett growled "That is where we will toss them all, so Carlisle can exact his revenge too"

The vampires were watched by the wolves in fear. The smooth melody of their preternatural voices had become devoid of velvet and instead there was lava lacing each word and the violence flashing over the eyes of the two males made the wolves think that these vampires could take on anything- with nothing but their rage and misery settled in the cavity of their hearts.

And for Jacob, he resolved that he would stand by them in such a war for he knew the importance of a mother in a life-be it supernatural or otherwise.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"There is one little thing that I would like for you to help me with, Carlisle..." Lorraine sat with her legs crossed at the other side of the glass, her eyes firmly set to stare in fake interest inside her bag while she pretended to search for the file. "I know it is a very sensitive topic... as a... father, and I can't believe they have asked me to ask you this!?"

She paused to smile apologetically at him, and the brief glance she made on the vampires face caused her eyes to widen automatically and with no permission from her mind; she didn't know what she had expected Carlisle to be doing; possibly sitting in his seat tapping his fingers impatiently or pacing at the other side of his new cage. She was aware that these were all human expectations of a vampire... but to have him standing right by the glass with one ashen hand firmly placed over the glass's surface and a look of excited madness dancing in his eyes, and lips quirked in an odd sneer of anticipation...

No, she hadn't expected this and that had sent a cold dripping fear down her rigid spine. She was now hurriedly rummaging through the contents of her bag (although the file sat perfectly at one side of her leather Prada bag), berating herself loudly for being so forgetful and wasting 'poor Carlisle's' time.

"This glass..." Carlisle said suddenly and Lorraine jumped, throwing the bag up-every single one of its contents taking off into the air with the motion, including the file-and she sat back down in flurry, clutching her left breast and breathing hard.

"Oh" Carlisle smiled, tilting his head to one side "Did I frighten you, Lorraine?"  
"Not the slightest... bit..." she gasped "I mean... I just realised the file was in my bag all along"

"You really should invest in a smaller bag" Carlisle's tone suggested he was smiling but she didn't dare look at him, shooing the guard from helping her pick up her things before scampering on her hands and knees over the floor as she collected her belonging. "I am sorry..."

"Oh, don't be" Lorraine breathed, rising from the floor unceremoniously and tossing the file on the table. She forced herself to look at Carlisle and smiled a tiny slightly embarrassed smile. His eyes were impossibly dark and yet they pulsed ominously; his hair hung over those eyes and caused a menacing shadow to fall over his glorious face. "You really should utilise the comb you received in your toiletries"

He remained silent.

He had to be the most gorgeous devil, the most seductive demon. He managed a slight quirk of his lips (a gesture Lorraine took to be filled with corruption too, although it may have been a modest smile) before Lorraine looked away, his palm still plastered to the glass and eyes intent on her face. She knew if that glass was not there, if the snipers were not positioned and ready and the collar removed from his neck...

He would have rushed towards her, grabbed her and raised her of the ground before latching onto her neck and taking the longest drink of his life...

Or simply snapped my neck and tossed me to the side, Lorraine laughed hysterically in her mind. After all, this was the incredible Carlisle Cullen with the incredible control... although in the files and documents she had read there had been nothing about him having such sinister eyes and a hypnotic gaze. Maybe she had imagined this...

She glanced at him; he wasn't by the glass any longer. She looked about the room opposite hers frantically; momentarily convinced he had managed to break free and then sighed in relief when she saw him walking humanly slow towards her from his table opposite the unused bed. He was holding a blue small toothed comb and smiling, shaking his head so that lush silvery gold hair swished above his eyes.

"I tend to comb my hair with my fingers" he laughed high and loud and Lorraine felt herself clench her jaw at the pain of the volume "It was a human gesture I did... when nervous. No, I think what I actually used to do was this..."

He raised his left hand and reached behind his head and began twirling the hair right by the nape of his neck, sure to angle his head for Lorraine to see what it was he meant. He seemed momentarily harmless, his eyes wide but that unhinged look still dancing in their darkness and his mouth set in something halfway between a smile and a grimace of sorrow.

"The hair combing with my fingers came later when my father said it made me seem... weak" he didn't frown when he said this, nor did he stop twirling the hair in his fingers. He closed his eyes and continued this way for two minutes before Lorraine cleared her throat.

"Carlisle?" she called and he let out a content 'hmm', still not opening his eyes or halting the hair twirling "Carlisle... what would happen to your... is it Grandson... if he were injected with venom?"

"He died when that happened" Carlisle answered "When Tanya... fed on him and increased the venom in him. Hmm, I wonder how Tanya is...?"

"Tanya..." Lorraine frowned at the unknown name that had never come up in any records. "Carlisle, please focus"

"Vampires can focus on numerous things at a time" Carlisle said "But they can also be very easily distracted by the very same number of things! Fascinating, isn't it..."

"Yes it is" Lorraine sighed, worn out. The previous day, Carlisle had refused to talk, react or move-standing like a sentinel by his bed and today... he was all chatty. She wondered what will be in store tomorrow and when exactly was it that she could 'tame' him and having him helping her scientists. She was saving the nano-collar for later; still trying to give him the 'humanity' he so desperately wanted...

That she hoped he still wanted but that darkness on his face suggested otherwise at times.

"For instance" he was right by the glass, in the same place he had initially been with his hand pressed against the glass. She started terribly, paling and eyes wide and fearful "I can only focus on you... sweet Lorraine"

"M...m-m-me?" she stammered, forcing a shaky smile and clasping her trembling hands in front of her. She kept chanting that he could do nothing to her, and that his humanness may cause the animal part of him to be more fearsome (she would have rather Carlisle behaved like a normal vampire than this awkward human waltz he insisted on dancing) "Heavens, why would you focus on little old me... with the way I am so fat and unattractive..."

"Oh, yes... you are nothing like my Esme; both in her human life and eternity" he nodded his head in agreement and Lorraine scowled "But I can't seem to focus on anything other than you"

"Maybe it's because I am your only visitor?" Lorraine regained her composure through Carlisle's wayward remark.

"No, sweet _clever_ Lorraine..." Carlisle smiled and this time Lorraine was given no doubts on whether there were sinister thoughts brewing in the angelic vampire "I don't need any other visitors... what I need is Aro's ashes in a lovely velvet bag"

She paled.

"Err, we are working on that Carlisle" she breathed after a moment, her eyed darting to the file. She picked it up and thumbed through it silently, aware that Carlisle had resumed his unblinking staring of her but she adamantly read the file.

"What is in the file?" he asked. She had him were she needed him, finally. Curious and reminded of his rage... although now, she realised he had never forgotten the rage but had simply handled it in a different way. He was a vampire after all... he didn't forget _anything _that happened in his vampirism_..._

It was her, Lorraine who had forgotten that none of the Cullen's behaved as normal vampires and that she couldn't use what she had learnt in her years of dissecting and burning them up, to manipulate them to the purpose of The Company.

"It is a file on Isabella Swan, the only link we have to Volterra..." she looked up at him and said softly, locking their gazes-his severe dark eyes to her human ones "Our only link to Aro, Carlisle"

"Aro" he hissed, lips twisting and eyes blazing, his palm retreating to a fist against the glass.

"We have reasons to believe she was... intimate with Aro" Lorraine said seriously "As well as Joham"

"Power corrupts" Carlisle whispered, closing his eyes "It was never enough... we were in the end, not enough for poor Isabella. Our Edward... not enough for her..."

"And Renesme?" Lorraine asked "Was she not enough for Isabella in the end?"  
"Renesme was her precious" Carlisle sighed. "Precious Nessie..."

"Nessie, hmm" Lorraine hid her disgust at the endearment.

"I need your help with her, Carlisle" Lorraine said "We need to know what it is that is brewing in Italy... what it is that Aro is planning to unleash on the world. No more of your family needs to be affected by this, let us exact your vengeance?"

"Hmm" his eyes narrowed but he said nothing further. It made her uneasy.

"Carlisle, you honestly can't believe you can take on Volterra as you are?" Lorraine smiled "Let us help you?"  
He closed his eyes in response.

"All we need is a bit of information from Isabella... without damaging her" Lorraine looked away as she said this, reminded of her brief visit to Isabella's cell and how she had to put up with the vampires cackling and insults, mingled with begging for blood. She didn't want to think about how neither Edward nor Carlisle had begged for blood as yet...

They were all monsters in the end, she chanted. There were no such things as 'atoning monsters'. She wouldn't, _couldn't _believe in such a thing...

"Why do you think I could help you with that? I am no telepath and as you well know, Isabella has a mental shield" Carlisle droned, bored with this bit of information and request.

"I was thinking that you could assist my Nanotechnology Professor with your knowledge in vampire neuropsychology?"

Carlisle closed his eyes and said in one breath "Of course" he touched the light metal collar on his neck "I was wondering what would happen if I tried to remove this"

"Curiosity killed the cat" Lorraine said smiling.

"Exactly what I thought!" Carlisle smiled almost warmly "And I saw no need to disrupt such resourceful work for want of curiosity. So how does it work? If I tempered with it, I would receive a nasty shock of nanites?"

"Or if I pressed a little button on a remote" Lorraine smiled back. "Clever these professors, aren't they?"  
"Very" Carlisle agreed, nodding his head.

"But all of them seem to struggle with vampire neurology!" Lorraine sighed "Absurdness! Between all those PhD's and other fancy degrees and certificates... every time they delve into the minds of sentient beings, they leave them brain dead or crazed!"

"Interesting..." Carlisle had not stopped smiling, his eyes on Lorraine's face. She felt like he was reading her, seeing right through her act but she had to charge on regardless of her suspicions.

"Why o you think that is?"  
"Hmm, I have this theory..." Carlisle said "The human mind remains as it is even after the venom has coated every tissue"  
"Impossible, I have proof!"  
"Sure, the brain is more durable and any nerve injuries fixed and the such" Carlisle closed his eyes "But it is the same structure. The venom heightens and explodes everything about a being physically, emotionally..."

"And mentally" Lorraine said, rethinking The Companies unified conformity that Carlisle was the vampire to have, to decipher all _other_ vampires. "As well as talents and such...?"

"Humans use but a percentage of their minds... the venom, it causes vampires to use every single compartment of the brain" Carlisle said softly "But it is one of many theories. The notion of a whole new brain being created is a little... absurd. If a human were infected with venom and they had no limb to begin with... best believe that they would awake a limbless vampire after the venom's inferno"

He took in a steady breath, as another wayward thought he had had recurrently since interacting with the wolves of the Quileute, popped into his mind. The shape shifters were the only beings Carlisle thought capable of healing virtually any wound. After all, when Jacob's mind and heart had broken... they found a way of healing itself.

In him, he knew the fissures and blistering pain was permanent. When he had Aro's ashes stored in a little bag and flung in the ocean... he would let the degeneration take him over until he was no more. Or, more possibly, he would find the highest volcano and let it swallow him whole...

"Hmm, interesting" Lorraine looked genuinely impressed "You have dealt with genetics for far too long. Your understanding of vampire neuropathy may be limited?"  
"It is limited" Carlisle agreed "But my son..."  
"His vision is not nearly as clear as yours on this" Lorraine said quickly "And we wonder were his loyalties would lie when dealing with his wife?"  
"His ex wife" Carlisle clarified.

"And mother of his child?" Lorraine smiled "I am sure in your little vampire pseudo human world, that means something? He didn't react particularly well when I offered to fatten his grandson with a bit of venom were as you... you tell me he may die, again, but your concern over the matter is limited-what's a little death when one is somewhat immortal, eh? You see... you are focused on your goal. That is what I need..."

"And I need Edward on this" Carlisle breathed, closing his eyes "It would save _months_ of trying to construct the right device to fling Bella's shield off! Not to mention creating software to read her wavelengths so we can know when we have succeeded!?"

"Edward is a walking, breathing..." Carlisle began, ignoring Lorraine's croak of disagreement on 'breathing'... "already functioning Neuropsycho-analyzer. He not only hears thoughts, he feels the thoughts and sees them. There are very few beings who can withstand him... and he tends to not push his gift to its limit. I mean, if he really wanted to with the right amount of energy... he may be able to bypass all manner of shields?"

"Then it is Edward we should be dissecting?"  
"No!" Carlisle roared and Lorraine shied away from the volume of his voice. "I mean..." he smiled apologetically, trying a calmer and softer "No. You want the contents of Isabella's mind... not those of Edward's, after all"

"Yes..." Lorraine agreed "That is what we need... first most. But once again, I worry that your son has other worries... outside of helping The Company. He may cost you, Carlisle. He may cost you Aro, if he is unwilling to help us"

"He will help... his loyalty will always be where I stand!" Carlisle insisted, already flinging thought after thought on what he could do or say to Edward to justify their tampering with the mind of one of their own, with a mind of a member of their family (he thought of Esme and how at times she would insist that Isabella would still be a daughter to her), with the mind of the mother of Renesme... the grandmother of Charles... the mind of Jacob's first love and friend.

He didn't particularly care for these facts although they spun in his head; he simply knew Edward would care for them. What he wanted, was Aro... and the bloodlust in him for that kept him functioning and alert to Lorraine's little games...

Oh, how clever she thought she was. Carlisle allowed her this; silly human child-he had lived close to four centuries and dealt with the vilest of vampires. This was new; he admitted... who would have ever thought humans could be a threat? Did he fault them? They had to protect themselves... but unfortunately for them...

They were humans at the end of it all... and he was resolute with his acceptance of being a demon and a devil, heaven be damned!

"Hmm, you seem certain enough" Lorraine smiled and Carlisle relaxed. "About your grandson? He will die if I give him venom... and awaken...?"  
"Weak" Carlisle said "Exponentially weak"

"Edward's exact words" Lorraine whispered.

"You won't do it?" Carlisle asked "You see, there is no point... venom is the boy's kryptonite"

"He is a man, not a boy" Lorraine sighed, smiling in satisfaction "And I think I would like to see for myself. Unlike you, Carlisle... I don't let curiosity kill me. I would like to see how a werewolf hybrid relates to others of his kind, if your throw a vampire in the mix..."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there is a full moon soon and I am going to throw your grandson in a pen full of werewolves... and then add a starved vampire too" Lorraine clapped her hands "Exciting, isn't it? Why go the conventional 'venom in syringe' route when we can play gladiator?"

"Why indeed..." Carlisle said grimly "This is more... humane, after all"

"No, Carlisle..." Lorraine leaned forward abruptly "This is more vampiric!"

**Authors note:**

**Embry has not been forgotten... I just think with him having 'Black' blood in him, it has to be something along the epic lines like with Charles and Jacob. **

**A few things to think about; **

**could humans truly be this organised and well funded against the supernatural without some 'help'?**

**Let's not forget how it is the Quileute arrived to their shape shifter phasing into a wolf gift (refer to They Set out to Kill Fate, chapter; Legendary Family Secrets... if you have time and patience)**

**The title of this story is 'They Set out to Fight Love' so as we near the end of the second sequel and approach the third (which I may just let run through in this story and not create a third story...), let us brace ourselves for the unexpected or long overdue... in some pairings cases.**

**Remember to review! More especially now, to all ye ghost readers... I will do responses in the next chapter update to all questions. I know I can leave those for later or...err, very badly at times, not at all. (hides in shame).**

**Xx**

**TJ**


	30. Through the Looking Glass

**THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

He was thrown callously through the air, landing hard and painful on the cold floor. He could feel a series of sharp aches inside his body but in his current state, he couldn't make out the extent of the damage. The light filtered through from behind the men. They stood in front of the narrow entrance, watching him; they gazed upon him with hate, they glared at him with subdued fear but worst and most of all it was the _disgust _in their eyes that shone brightly.

He groaned lightly and their expressions twisted into further revulsion. Charles knew he had vomit all over him and he had possibly landed stray sprays of his puke on the two humans. He could taste it in his mouth, he could smell it wafting off of his own body; it had seeped through his clothes, sticking slimily to his skin.

All his strength was drained, the remainder of it straining to keep his eyelids open. His mind was nauseatingly pacified by a thousand different drugs and his senses lulled close to unconsciousness. Save for his sense of smell... he was cursed by his fully operating sense of smell... he wondered if it would have better had his nose been drugged too. He would be spared the constant reminder by each putrid waft of his own vomit that this was the lowest point of his pathetic short life... his dismal immortality.

He tried to scratch his own arm; the wound from where the needle had been plunged into for all those many days, itched and burned.

His plan seemed void now, it's only purpose seemed to have been to give his mind some exercise and create hope for his soul were really, there was none to be had. What had been the point of him needing venom?

"To save us..." he croaked.

The man scoffed, his face hidden in shadows as he moved back "The only person who would care enough to save you is Santa Claus..." the door was shutting, the shadows sucked in by the darkness around him "And as far as we can tell..."

As the doors shut, the strip of light narrowed into extinction, just as Charles hopes had died.

"And as far as we have been able to tell, Santa Claus was wise enough to remain a myth even here!" the cackle echoed in the rich blackness, the last thing Charles thought he would ever here.

Charles Black thought he was going to die and he wondered if Leah Clearwater could feel it too. He was sure he would die, in fact, not because of the creatures that were born of the darkness he was in... But of the venom that had been pumped into his body. It wasn't the poison of the vampires... it was made in a flask. His body rejected it furiously...

He was going to die... could _his_ Leah feel it too?

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**KATHERINE**

I didn't think their plan would work.

My mother had always told me about the hand of God, about the people blessed to know God's plan and those that could see into the future... the prophets. I didn't think 'Alice, the white demon' was one of them.

The devil only dealt with lies, and anything he would allow for her to see would most likely be the mother of all illusions.

I suppose if I felt this strongly about her, about them... especially about Leah's brother, then that made me less of an evil and still containing redeemable goodness. I was, _of course_, less of an evil... I only committed evil deeds when I was unconscious. Surely God would hear me out on that? God would know that it was _them _that had affected me with this... this... sin and rotten cancer.

"I have never met a psychic..." Dominic mused. He was infatuated with the whole thing... especially Leah...

I nudged him and he turned his head a little, those pretty eyes of his staring at me in a mixture of interest to my thoughts-I never said much, even to him-and his usual boredom with everything. _Unbelievably_ bored as though he was used to seeing beautiful people that sparkled in the sun (I had not been able to stop staring at the big 'vampire' when he had casually strolled from the woods, back at Lynn and Rupert's cosy cabin-gorgeous beyond description and shimmering like gold dust), and big muscled men with tempers like Rottweilers that did indeed turn into big Rottweilers (I didn't know what type of dog they turned into but the most beautiful 'vampire', Rosalie... constantly referred to them as dogs although they called themselves 'wolves').

"Dress" I breathed, refusing to add more words. He raised an eyebrow and then he followed my gaze ahead of us. Leah was standing in the doorway, her arms folded over her chest as normal, a scowl on her face and her big eyes narrowed, her hair tied messily and indifferently... but she wore a dress. With a cardigan...

She looked less threatening but her beauty was more...

"Hmm" Dominic moved a little away from me, resting his head in his hand, his arm propped on the armrest of the couch. He stopped his ramblings about the 'vampires', like I had intended for him to.

I wanted to ramble about them myself, in my mind and wished he would do the same.

"Hungry?" Jacob walked in from the kitchen; his mouth full of cinnamon buns-Rosalie had been silently baking the whole morning. He held a tray out, stacked with large buns and when neither Dominic nor I made to take it, he placed it in front of us on the coffee table.

I took one immediately, while Dominic only looked at them in disdain, settling himself to stare at a lovely ceramic vase with orchids in similar contempt. It was as though his sun had been popped with the arrival of Jacob... or more likely, with Leah now paying attention to her surroundings, he wouldn't want her to catch him ogling at her... I was sure...

When her eyes swept over us, I stuffed my mouth with cinnamon bun to discourage her from saying anything to me.

"I'm ready..." was all I managed to get of her initial conversation with Jacob, although I was straining my ears past capacity. It was a strange thing, how _everyone _whispered... except Dominic and I, and when Dominic and I whispered to each other, _everyone _could hear us! It just wasn't fair...

If I was going to be contaminated with evil, I would like to have everyone else's perks too... or maybe if I remained partially deaf or 'human' as everyone referred to us if they weren't reminding us that we were _nasty_ werewolves; if I remained as this, I could more likely be turned back by God, or healed by a true prophet, much easier than these poor pretty damned souls...

"...been to London many times, Jacob. Your amnesiatic self just cant remember!" Leah's voice started rising-she never could keep her temper down for long, she was worse than Billy these days "I think _we _should go in for the tickets and not the vampires because _certain_ people will be expecting to see bloody _pale_ and _beautiful_ and not Indian and hot!"

She thumped Jacob hard on his shoulder (it was _really hard _but Jacob was _really big_, so he didn't move and made a show of how it was not painful). She walked away from him, passing us and pausing to glance at me and raise an eyebrow and Dominic "If you don't eat those..." she pointed at the buns idling on the coffee table "Rosalie will be _very_ hurt. And the guys..." whenever she said 'guys' she meant the other Rottweilers "The guys will finish them"

"I am not hungry" Dominic said in a weak voice, but I was sure his insides were cheering and gushing with love.

"Eat them" Leah said gently "Esme used to make them..."

He picked one up and I picked up another, although I hadn't finished my current one. I was sold at Esme... and my heart panged at the reminder that Nessie could be in trouble. Serious trouble. This was why I didn't quite believe that the pale and beautiful members of our evil little family were _vampires_. I had seen vampires... well, in the television when Mommy and Papa were away. They weren't like this; they turned into bats and had fangs... or burned in the sun. Even Damon Salvatore had fangs...

These vampires were beautiful, glittery and I just _liked_ them.

But they were evil.

We were _all_ evil.

God made Adam and Eve... in the Garden of Eden... and these were not any children of Eve.

Maybe she slept with the serpent behind Adam's back and they erased that part from the bible after Adam forgave her for the affair...

I miss television. I wonder if there is Days of our Lives on the television here in England.

Xx~xx~xX

"Leah and Jacob are back..." I said softly, uselessly. Everyone could here; from downstairs to out in the garden, were the other Rottweilers were lounging on the lawn. It looked like they were sunbathing, but I knew it was _freezing _outside. Seth got out of the car; he had been in the back. The moment he was out, his head turned up and I met his eyes-large like Leah's. I closed the curtain quickly, unable to stop my loud gasp of shock.

"Do they look like they succeeded in their quest?" Dominic's tone was parched. He was turning graver and graver by the day.

"Leah's brother was carrying a large envelope and a briefcase. It all looked very 'C.I.A'" I said. Dominic was laying on his bed-only him, myself and Leah had rooms in the house. There was a master bedroom that no one used; I guessed it had been Carlisle and Esme's room.

Rosalie went in there every morning to open the windows and every evening to close them.

"Why you _insist_ on calling him 'Leah's brother' is besides me" Dominic sighed, covering his eyes with the back of his hand as though he had a nagging headache "Who knew that saving the world would involve paper work and visas..."

"They are not nearly that good" I couldn't stop myself, although the possibility of being heard was _very high _and I didn't really know what Dominic was talking about"They are saving their family, and not the world. The world could burn, as long as they were all together when it was happening"

"And is that not _goodness_?" Dominic asked but I knew he would stand were Leah-his saviour-stood... and where the possibility of Carlisle creating a venom substitute to quell the viciousness of the werewolf was. And in the latter, I unwillingly had to follow. "They have given me a place where I belong... or at least, belong much better than living in a home with my mother fearing me and my father... I had no father but a sperm donor. I have purpose. Do you know what it is like to live with no purpose, little girl?"

He wasn't shouting, but the shame he filled me with made it feel that way. He waited for me to answer audibly and this made it all the more shaming.

"No..." I whispered. I tentatively opened the curtain once more-a part of me fearing meeting Seth's sad eyes. But a part of me was thrilled by the prospect of doing just that... and I hated that part, it was the _sin_. The occupants of the Ranger Rover were not by the car, and the Rottweilers had dispatched from the front lawn. They were probably holding their meeting-which they usually forgot to invite Dominic and me to join.

"What was your life like, Katherine?"  
I moved from the window and sat on the edge of his bed-spying was _unchristian_, mother would say. But Mother only said that because the people in town always watched us funny... like Hannah and Mary, always looking at us in church...

But most of the town had been destroyed. And God always punishes the wicked in the end, and they had been so wicked to me and my mother; always talking about how unkept she was and how my parents had no business having me so old... always laughing at how poor I was and how I had only one good 'Sunday' dress...

"I had one good dress" I whispered, touching the dress I wore, the one Alice had lain out on my bed while I had gone to take a bath. "Now, I have six good dressed and nice jeans..."

"I think you have a hell lot more than that" Dominic laughed, his low smooth voice pleasant "Alice is treating you like a doll to alleviate some of her grief and stress..."

"Do you mean even the dresses I didn't try on yesterday are mine?" I turned around and asked him, my eyes wide. "The ones... the post man delivered from the..."  
"Yeah, the ones she bought online" Dominic summarized my winded description. "All yours kid"

I looked down at my dress; it was white with a red ribbon trimming the hem and fitted me perfectly. I realised that Leah's dress was similar except it was green and made her skin all the more beautiful.

If I was going to be evil; why couldn't I be a Rottweiler or a vampire so I could be so pretty, Lord Jesus?

Oh, no... I was praying to the wrong person but I couldn't bring myself to end any prayer with Satan... even Lucifer hurt my mental tongue.

Xx~xx~xX

We were leaving England.

We never could stay in one place for too long. I missed Lynn and Rupert; they reminded me of my parents...

"Katherine..." Jacob called sharply and I jumped in my seat, knocking my orange juice (Dominic had swopped it with the wine I had originally poured myself, so adamant to be the only one to remember I was a child). The juice didn't have a chance to stain much of the table cover (that I was sure was expensive) before Rosalie cleaned it up silently and irritably... in one big freaky blur in front of me, that scared me more than the sound of Jacob's voice speaking to me directly.

"Sorry" I squeaked.

"Don't worry about it..." this was the big vampire-Emmett. He stood by the door; his arms folded over his massive chest, just watching us eat... Jasper stood beside him too, Alice tucked under his arm... all of them, just watching us munch on the food they had made.

If it wasn't so delicious, I wouldn't have eaten it... it had to be poisoned or laced with something.

"...clumsier than Bella ever was!" Rosalie's parting words when she had taken the cloth from under the plates, cutlery, serving dishes and glasses-like a magic trick. Nothing wobbled or spilt over, and everything sat perfectly on the top of the rich brown dining table when she was done.

I shrunk back into my chair, letting my hair fall over my face and wishing for Renesme; she would have told her off for me.

"Seth, seriously?" Jacob was side tracked with Leah's brother who sat opposite him. I looked up and met Seth's eyes immediately-like I always did whenever I wanted to look at him, like he knew and sensed it. He looked back down at his plate and stuffed his mouth full of Marmalade Duck... just like I did when I didn't want to talk to someone.

"Err, Katherine..." Jacob turned his head slowly to me although his eyes remained planted on Seth's face for a second, delaying their arrival on my own form. "How are you?"  
"Fine" I said the word while nodding, like an idiot, and Bradley began laughing down the table. Seth ate faster and piled more food on his plate while Dominic sighed and heaved beside me.

"Good" Jacob smiled. I liked Jacob, he seemed... at times, as young as I was. Fifteen (sixteen in a few days time) and stuck amongst a bunch of old _pretty_ farts worried about the end of the world (although, he did seem scary when he went into 'leader' mode). He had taught me how to play X-Box when we had first arrived on the Estate, here in England. He hadn't been too bothered that I didn't say much or that I didn't really know what a gaming pad was, or who Cyclops was or what the X-men were about.

"We are going to go away..." Jacob said, glancing at Dominic. I immediately knew Dominic had been told (probably sometime when I had been in the toilet). "I know how this all is like..." he waved a hand in the air to illustrate what 'this' is, but of course... it was all vague and close to invisible for me. "I know it better than anyone"

"No you don't" the words came out of my mouth without my knowing it, and I jumped back from them while everyone, _everyone _looked at me in shock. "Your parents weren't killed in front of you... where they?"

"Err, no" he said softly "But I am young. Like you... and I am fucked up..." he smiled when I jumped at his use of a swear word "I am disturbed in many other ways. And they may be different to how your life has turned out so far, but inside..." he touched the centre of his chest (thank God he was wearing a shirt...) "I hurt in a similar way. I am recently an orphan"

It was strange, relating to this twenty five year old (and I had heard Leah say he was older than that, and I had heard Billy say that he had a son roughly Billy's age...), this twenty five year old teenager.

"Katherine..." He sighed "I know you don't want to be a part of this, of us"  
"I want to find Renesme" I said quickly and he smiled.

"Me too, hey" he whispered. "Would you say you would feel... better, safer... to live with Renesme, in the end?"  
The end, when everything was done.

"I would feel better if I could have the evil inside me taken out" I breathed and Dominic tensed at my side.

"We are travelling again, maybe for the last time... and where we are going it is dangerous" Jacob said solemnly "You are young. A kid... you know, but in this life there is no 'Age of Consent'. You make a choice and you understand it as best as you can. It is dangerous where we are going... and there may be death"

"I am not afraid of death... I have seen it" I hissed and it was his turn to move back into his chair in shock.

"She doesn't know what she is saying" Seth said but no one else spoke up against my vivid statement.

"Then you will come with us to Greenland" Jacob smiled "And maybe Carlisle will help you with the... werewolf ailment, and maybe we will find Renesme... and maybe it will be all okay"

"Are you certain of Greenland?" Dominic asked.

"Again..."Alice sighed "I don't quite know. It is a 'sense' if you may. The remote parts of the world... between the north and south extremes of the world. The blockage I get from the south is much clearer than from the north..."  
"Santa Claus..." Leah said shakily "Santa Claus lives in the North..."  
"Santa doesn't exist, Lee" Jacob said softly and she scowled at him.

"But he lives in the North Pole!" Leah hissed at him, slamming her hand on the table so the plates and everything else shook, and Embry's wine spilt over. Rosalie made no move for this; simply scowling and looking away from us all like we were wretched commoners.

"Jacob is right, Leah" Emmett said "Santa doesn't exist and he couldn't live in the North Pole. The North Pole is all water... trust me, I googled it once"

"She means the North in general" Alice sighed wearily "From the north; I get a similar blockage to the wolves..."

"They have a wolf?" Bradley sprayed peas all over the table as he spoke "We need to call..."

"No they don't have a wolf!" Alice yelled "Focus...! Damn it, Jacob, I don't know how you do it!"

"It's in the blood" Jacob said seriously before commanding everyone's attention back with no more than the sound of his voice moving through the air "We are going to Greenland, Katherine. We have organised for both you and Dominic... Seth and Embry will accompany you, to go on this 'research mission' in this little village nearest to the North..."

"Can it be a Christian research mission?" I asked.

"Err, I guess you could add that to it" Jacob said "But... it's a real thing. You know, for our cover to be real you are in an _actual_ programme so you will have to play the part Katherine. You will interact with people, humans and you have to do so like you were human too..."

"I am human" I said innocently and he only smiled.

"Where would everyone else be...?" Dominic asked.

"Living like wolves and vampires in the cold" Jacob gave his huge infectious grin. I grinned back at him, ignoring Leah's brother's eyes staring at my face.

**Authors Note:**

**This was a long time coming due to major writers block. Please, reviews... greatly appreciated...**

**The end is near!**

**Xx**

**TJ**


End file.
